Over half the staff absent in SAI,Gandhinagar

“Gandhinagar is an important centre of SAI as it is the nerve-centre for the entire western region. SAI centres in Rajasthan,Goa and Maharashtra are controlled by the centre here. It is appalling to note that there is a lot of unruliness among the staff here,” Thomson said.

According to the SAI official,the levels of absenteeism in Gandhinagar were the highest among the nine regional centres where similar checks have been carried out since Thomson assumed office,three months ago. “The 50% absenteeism in Gujarat is the highest noticed among our centres,where the average absenteeism rates have been around 20-25%,” Thomson said,adding that most of SAI was suffering since no performance appraisals or evaluations were being conducted.

Two coaches,five players

These checks have found several extreme forms of absenteeism. “In Rajasthan — which falls under the Gandhinagar regional centre — a handball coach has been absent for four years. We also found that there were two coaches to train five athletes in the same state. Such luxury is unheard of even in European countries,” Thomson said.

In order to make SAI more “vibrant” and “result-oriented”,Thomson has already transferred 30 senior officers across the country.