Tomorrow onwards, government offices providing urgent services will open for 12 hours — from 6am to 6pm — as per a Cabinet decision taken on November 20, but many wonder whether the move, made without equipping these offices with extra manpower and other resources, will be able to serve the purpose. In Nepal, civil servants are often accused of procrastinating, not reporting to duty on time — and leaving offices long before the scheduled time — and dilly-dallying as much as possible when it comes to serving the general public. In such scenario, the question looms whether simply extending office hours will make service delivery effective.
