Absenteeism to be dealt with iron fist

Around 75,000 government employees did not show up at their work places last year, according to a report presented by the Control and Investigation Board at the Shoura Council.
Of the 74,879 absentees, the largest number was from the Ministry of Education, followed by the Ministries of Islamic Affairs, Health, Municipality, Justice and Higher Education, the report said.
Muna Al-Mushait, a Shoura member, urged the government to introduce the fingerprinting system to end the menace of absenteeism among civil servants.
“The fingerprinting machines at government departments should be directly linked with the board to take absentees to task,” she said.
Abdullah Al-Harbi, another member, said 57,539 absentees were from five ministries with the Education Ministry accounting for 29,581, Islamic Affairs Ministry (10,608) and Health Ministry (8,475).
The Shoura emphasized the need to increase the board’s budget to strengthen the organization and enable it to carry out its mission effectively.
It urged all government departments to cooperate with the board.