Northeast time zone: Advance working hours in Assam by 30 minutes, says CM

December 22, 2017 141 Views No Comment

Amid long-standing demands for a separate time zone in the northeast – where the sun rises and sets two hours earlier than India’s far west – Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday proposed that the working hours in government offices be advanced by at least 30 minutes.

Speaking at the foundation-laying ceremony of the central office of Sadou Asom Karmachari Parishad here, Sonowal said, “The sun rises here earlier than rest of the country and we can start our work half an hour earlier, from 9.30am.”

President of the Parishad, Basab Kalita, said, “We have no problem with the chief minister’s proposal. In fact, when the demands of a separate time zone were being raised, we had written to the government saying that we could start our work at 9am instead of our current time of 10am. We will soon discuss the proposal with the CM.”

The country’s east-west distance is more than 2,000 km and covers over 28 of longitude, resulting in early sunrise and sunset in the easternmost areas compared to the western region. The demand for a separate time zone was raised in the late 1990s, based on which a high-level committee under the chairmanship of the then secretary, directorate of science and technology, and chief secretary of Tripura as its members was constituted by the then Planning Commission.

In January 2002, the committee observed that Daylight Savings Time is adopted by many countries but strongly rejected the idea of two separate time zones for the country, saying that it would lead to chaos and confusion, especially in the transport sector, telecommunications sector and for the people in general. To utilize the morning hours and provide better recreational avenues in the evening, the committee has recommended that work timings be advanced by an hour in the eastern and northeastern state.

Source: Times of India