Uttar Pradesh babus get naughty, surf porn in office hours

Computers installed in Uttar Pradesh government offices to introduce officials to e-governance are being used to access pornographic websites. This rather shocking revelation has led the government to block them.

Secretariat administration department (SAD) officials who recently looked into the matter after getting complaints are appalled at the extensive use of office computers for viewing X-rated videos, movies and other pornographic material on office terminals.

“In some instances, X-rated videos were being screened for groups of employees of a particular department in an organised manner,” an official said. What’s worse, he said, is that government clerks sometimes gulp down glasses of liquor while watching the lewd videos during office hours.

SAD principal secretary VS Pande has taken serious view of the matter and directed the National Informatics Centre, which runs the government’s IT network, to block the porn websites from the main server. He has also warned of strict action against those found guilty of accessing it.

While complaints regarding misuse of official computers and internet facilities for viewing movies, playing games and for personal

work were commonplace, sources say matters came
to a head recently when a lady officer was faced with an embarrassing situation due to her colleagues’ prurient
predilections.

In a complaint she sent to top officials and even the chief minister’s office, she said that during a recent visit to a section in the finance department, she was shocked to find the section officer and other staff glued to the computer watching a sleazy video. She has demanded strict action against them under the government employees’ conduct rules.

Sources said an initial inquiry revealed that this was indeed no rarity, and that pornographic viewing in the secretariat offices was routine. There had been a number of verbal complaints about officials watching porn in office earlier as well, they revealed.

The situation seems grim considering the policy of e-governance, started in UP over a decade ago, has seen implementation at snail’s pace. Apart from a few departments, like SAD and finance, use of computers for day-to-day official work and e-filing is virtually unheard of.