Daman and Diu administration ties itself in knots over rakhi diktat

NEW DELHI: The Daman and Diu administration on Wednesday withdrew a circular that asked women staff to tier ak his on male colleagues after the order triggered a backlash from employees and was ripped apart on social media.

The union territory’ s administration was forced to retreat within 24 hours of issuing the circular that made it compulsory for its staff to celebrate Rakshabandhan at workplace.

“It has been decided to celebrate the festival of Rakshabandhan on August 7. In this connection, all offices/ departments shall remain open and celebrate the festival collectively at a suitable time wherein all the lady staff shall tie rakhis to their colleagues,” the order, issued on August 1 by Gurpre et Singh, deputy secretary( personnel ), had said. To ensure that no one skipped office, an attendance report was to be sent to the government the next evening.

The circular was withdrawn through a one-line order issued late in the evening by the UT’s department of personnel and administrative reforms.

“The circular is ridiculous. There are sensitivities involved. How can the government dictate who I should tie rakhi to? We should maintain the professionalism of a workplace” an official told HT earlier in the day.