GOVT OFFICIALS TO FACE ACTION FOR USING SOCIAL MEDIA AT WORK.
COST-CUTTING Audit showed excessive use for leisure slows internet, affects work
To boost internet speed, save bandwidth for productive work and reduce its operational costs, the Delhi government has hit upon a novel idea — monitor and control access to social media and music por- tals in its offices.
In the season of bans, the Delhi government has warned its officials of disciplinary action, if they are found browsing their Facebook accounts, engaging in leisurely chats or listening to or downloading music online.
The action follows an audit by the gover nment which showed that sagging speeds of internet in the offices was due to excessive use of social media and music websites.
“The internet services have been provided to the staff members for official purpose only and it should not be misused. It should primarily be used in a lawful and ethical way,” read a circular issued by the finance department.
A Delhi government official said that staff has been found “misusing” the internet at their work stations by accessing websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
“Browsing video/music websites leads to heavy data usage and affects performance of the internet. It also affects productivity of the employees,” the official said.
The government has also directed its staffers to keep their computer password protected to ensure no one else use their computer in their absence. “We will conduct another audit after a month. We will check individual computers for browsing history and accordingly action will be taken against those found flouting the order,” the official said.
Recently, the Union government had informed the Delhi high court that it has proposed a national email policy for official communication under which five million new IDs would be created.
Popular mail services and social networking sites like Gmail, Yahoo and Facebook will not be used for official communication by government employees to ensure secure access and usage of the official data, the government had told the court.
The Centre also submitted that access to social networking sites will be banned in government offices. However, the Delhi government had said that it has not decided on a ban yet but will keep a “check on Net usage”.