I-T department has own recovery problem,‘return’ notice issued

It was issued after the I-T department observed that the officials were holding on to books they had taken from the main library named the Knowledge Centre,at Shankersheth Road.

The notice pasted at different I-T offices in the city warned that the cost of books “may be recovered from salaries of employees directly through the cashier concerned.” The notice was issued in January. As of now there are 12 officials who have not returned the books.

The problem of getting the books returned is being regularly resolved,said officials and added that it was during the recent stock review before March that they found some books were not returned for over a year.

“We usually remind officials orally to return the books. Although there is no fixed time for which officials should keep the books,as normal practice,those who borrow are given reminders to return them in two weeks’ time. The backlogs are cleared from time to time. To get pension benefits,officials who retire have to get clearance from the library that they have no books to be returned to the library. As of now we have at least 12 officials who have not returned the books,” said an official of the Knowledge Centre.

The I-T department has not publicly disclosed the names of officials who failed to return the books but officials said senior officers including a Commissioner had not returned the books on time.

S D Tagare,I-T Officer,Administration,who issued the circular,said that before writing to officials directly to return the books,the department issued a circular and pasted it at different offices as a wake up call. “The facility to provide books to the staff of the I-T department is to improve their efficiency. The library has been stocked with a wide range of books including fiction titles. But we have found that the facility has been misused due to which we have issued the circular,” he said.