Daijiworld Media Network - Dharwad (MS)

Dharwad, Jan 6: State government employees were sent on OOD to attend Kannada Sahitya Sammelan in the city but they are found on the beaches of Goa! This is the way the provision of OOD is being misused by the state government employees.

On Official Duty (OOD), certificate is a document which is submitted by the state government employees to prove their presence, when they are asked to partake in any conference or seminar sponsored by the state government. However, many a times this facility is misused by the employees. This has happened in Kannada Sahitya Sammelan that is being held in the city. The teachers, lecturers and state government employees who got the OOD in the name of the conference are enjoying in the beaches and resorts of Goa which is nearby to this city.

According to rule, OOD needs to be given only at the end of the programme for which the state government has asked the concerned people to attend. However, as the employees insisted on giving the OOD forms on the first day itself, the district administration and Kannada Sahitya Parishad gave the same under pressure from the employees.

Out of the 17,000 people who were registered for the conference, 13,000 are teachers and lecturers mostly from the districts of Mysuru, Bengaluru, Mandya, Tumakuru, Bidar, Gulbarga and Raichur. It is said that most of the teaching faculty have gone to Goa to enjoy in resorts and beaches instead of attending the Kannada Sahitya Sammelan for which they were given OOD benefit.

Responding to the issue, Deepa Cholan, DC of the district, said, "More than 17,000 people have registered for the conference and out of this 80% are teachers and lecturers. As they protested for the OOD, it was given to them on the first day of the conference itself. If I come to know about the misuse of the facility, definitely action will be taken on them."