During an unannounced visit on Tuesday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar discovered the absence of several top ministers from their offices, prompting him to express his dissatisfaction with their attendance. In response, the chief minister issued directives requiring all ministers and government officials to report to their respective offices by 9:30 a.m.
Chief Minister Kumar conducted surprise inspections at Vikas Bhavan (New Secretariat) and Visvesvaraya Bhawan (technical secretariat), both situated on Bailey Road in the state capital.
During his visit to Vikas Bhavan, Chief Minister Kumar observed that some ministers were not present in their chambers. The absent ministers included Chandra Shekhar (Education), Alok Kumar Mehta (Minister of Sugarcane Industries), Samir Kumar Mahaseth (Industries), Sheela Kumari (Transport), and Kumar Sarvjeet (Agriculture). The chief minister reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with their absence.
The chief minister arrived at Vikas Bhawan at 9:30 a.m. and proceeded to inspect the chambers of ministers and senior officers, as well as the offices of several departments, including Education, Health, Industry, Agriculture, Sugarcane Industries, Road Construction, Prohibition, Excise & Registration. He inquired about the attendance of ministers, officers, and employees.
During his visit to the state Education minister's chamber, where the minister was absent, Chief Minister Kumar promptly called him and inquired about the reason for not arriving at the office by 9:30 am, according to officials.
Subsequently, the chief minister visited Visvesvaraya Bhawan, a building housing more than six departmental offices, including the state planning board, rural works department, road construction department, and minor water resources department.
Kumar, speaking to reporters after inspecting the offices of several departments at Visvesvaraya Bhawan, emphasized the importance of all officers arriving at their respective offices by 9:30 a.m. He explained that those found absent during his inspections were questioned about their absence.
The chief minister recalled that from 2008 to 2012-13, he used to visit his main secretariat office at 9:30 a.m. regularly. He has now decided to make regular visits to government offices.
On September 20, Kumar conducted an inspection of the main secretariat, which houses key departments such as the Cabinet Secretariat, Home, General Administration, Finance, Planning, and Development, as well as the offices of the chief secretary, development commissioner, and additional chief secretaries. During that visit, he expressed dissatisfaction with the absence of officials and employees but did not take punitive action against them.
