PESHAWAR: Few officials resumed duty as the government offices reopened on Thursday after three Eid holidays.

Unlike routine days, the Civil Secretariat was eerily quiet and most government departments wore a deserted look as majority of government employees opted to stay away.

The portion of the road near the central jail leading to the secretariat was also empty of the people, while not a single vehicle was parked on the stretch of the road between the home and education departments.

Normally, it is next to impossible to find parking space for vehicle in that area.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had announced Eid holidays from Monday to Wednesday.

Thin attendance in schools, too

An official told Dawn that he reached his office directly from his village at around 8am but found most offices to be locked.

“I came across some senior officers who had arrived, while the attendance a bit improved a bit later in the day,” he said, adding that it was still negligible as compared to rest of the days.

He said it was very unlikely that the situation would improve on Friday as most government employees would prefer to skip duty to avail two more days of weekend at home.

“Those not turning up on duty on Thursday and Friday will enjoy a nine days vacation beginning on Sept 10,” he said, adding that things would return to normal in government offices on next Monday.

Another official said the government should have declared Thursday a public holiday as it was the third day of Eid when many people performed the rite of sacrifice.

He said majority of the employees, mostly those from far-flung areas, took leave despite the government’s announcement about the office reopening as they didn’t make it to Peshawar on the third day of Eid.

The official said the people from Chitral, Dir and Dera Ismail Khan took long hours to reach Peshawar.

“The decision to reopen offices on Thursday is unrealistic,” he added.

An administration department official told Dawn that it was a departmental issue to deal with absentee employees.

“It is the job of the head of the department to act against his subordinates absenting themselves from duty on a working day. The administration department has nothing to do with it,” he said.

The official said majority of the government employees belonging to remote areas in such instances availed themselves of casual leaves.

He said in most cases, departmental heads granted casual leaves to their staff members and that very few people took French leaves.

Also, attendance at government school in the provincial capital was thin, while major commercial areas and markets remained closed on Eid days.

In Ghalanai area of Mohmand Agency, too, the government offices wore a deserted look on Thursday, the first working day after Eidul Azha holidays.

Most staff members of government offices either absented themselves from duty or came to offices late.

An official said many of his colleagues had gone to hometowns to celebrate Eid with families by taking additional leaves.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2016