Govt bans notices, flex boards at Secretariat

Thiruvananthapuram: The government has come up with a circular banning affixing notices and erecting flex boards inside the Secretariat campus, which will hereafter invite a hefty fine of Rs 500 per notice.
As per the circular issued by the housekeeping cell under the general administration department, no advertisements, notices or any flex boards —be it official or unofficial— should be affixed or erected in the main building or main campus, the annexes or on any of the boundary walls of these three campuses. The circular also said that notices or any kind of decorative materials should not be affixed or erected inside the Secretariat building or in the sections of various departments.
The circular further said that any such activities will be considered a serious breach of discipline, and those responsible will be penalized after examining the CCTV footage from the Secretariat security cameras. In addition to slapping a fine of Rs 500, they will have to remove that at their own expense. Those failing to remit the fine, will be recorded against their name in the housekeeping section, it said.
Meanwhile, employee associations have taken exception to the latest directive. “This is an attempt from the government to threaten employee unions. We will not back off from taking up issues of employees. The government should have held discussions with employee unions before coming up with such orders,” said Jyothish MS, president of pro-UDF Kerala Secretariat Association.