Over 180 Anganwadi centres, four health institutions and a district library were found locked during a day-long inspection of various government offices in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

A government official said on April 22 that appropriate action had been initiated against erring officers. The inspection was carried out yesterday by attendance monitoring squads, which were recently constituted by the District Development Commissioner, Mohammad Aijaz Asad, to ensure punctuality and regularity in government offices in the border district, the official said. He said action under rules was initiated against concerned officials for dereliction of duty.

As many as 845 Anganwadi centres were checked yesterday, during which 184 centres were found locked. Explanation is being sought from the district programme officer, Integrated Child Development Services, and child development project officers concerned for lack of proper monitoring, the official said. In another exercise by the squad in Haveli and Mandi Tehsils, he said, two public health centres (PHC) and two sub centres were found locked. These include health centres at Qasba and Arai and sub centres at Islamabad and Dunugam, he said adding the entire staff at these four health institutions was placed under suspension.

Giving more details, the official said a medical officer at PHC Chandak was found marked on casual leave. However, the concerned Block Medical Officer denied having granted any leave and accordingly Chief Medical Officer, Poonch, has initiated disciplinary action against the erring officer under rules, the official said. During a surprise visit, the district library at Poonch was also found locked and both the in charge librarian and junior librarian were suspended, the official said. The Poonch administration has taken a major initiative to ensure punctuality in government offices for an effective public service delivery. Absenteeism is being dealt with under rules governing service matters, the official said.