Chandigarh: The Punjab government has restored the regular working hours for all government offices and institutions from July 1, ending the summer schedule introduced in May.
According to an official order issued on Friday, all government offices and institutions will function from 9 am to 5 pm from July 1. Earlier, the government had changed office timings to 7.30 am to 1.30 pm from May 25 due to the intense summer heat.
The decision to advance office hours was also aimed at reducing electricity demand during peak summer months. However, officials said the change did not lead to any significant reduction in power consumption.
The government also observed that although employees reported to work at 7.30 am, most members of the public started visiting offices only after 9 am. People travelling from distant parts of Punjab often reached Chandigarh by afternoon, by which time many offices had already closed, causing inconvenience.
Taking these practical difficulties into account, the state government decided to restore the previous office timings. Officials said the experiment also failed to bring down electricity demand to the expected level.
Punjab has experimented with seasonal office timings on several occasions. The Akali-BJP government first introduced the practice around two-and-a-half decades ago, while the Aam Aadmi Party government implemented it again in 2024 and repeated it this year before reverting to the normal schedule.
