Chandigarh, June 17: Thousands of female government workers in Punjab will soon transition to postings closer to their residential areas following a welfare directive issued by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann. The administrative overhaul ensures that Group C and D female staff, including healthcare workers, educators, and police forces, will be stationed no further than 40 kilometers from their homes upon finishing their probation. The initiative focuses heavily on reducing travel stress and fostering an optimal work-life balance for the state’s workforce.
To accommodate different family structures, the government is allowing personnel to select either their marital or parental home as their primary anchor point for postings. This approach aims to reduce standard commuting times to under an hour, ensuring employees can return to their households daily rather than traveling hundreds of kilometers across districts.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann declared that the decision stems from direct feedback from the workforce regarding long-distance displacements. “I have personally interacted with several women employees who informed me that they are posted almost 200 kilometres away from their homes,” the Chief Minister stated. “Due to this, they are able to meet their families only two days a week and face immense difficulties. Therefore, our government has decided to formulate a policy under which women employees belonging to Group C and D categories, including staff nurses, teachers and women police personnel, will be posted within a maximum radius of 40 kilometres from their homes after completion of probation.”
Department officials have received immediate instructions to draft the operational framework required to smoothly execute the transition. The policy is structured to scale down distances wherever feasible, with many employees likely securing transfers as close as 15 kilometers from their residences.
The Chief Minister maintained that the administration remains deeply invested in structural adjustments that uplift workers, youth, and families. “Women employees will be able to indicate either their parental home or marital home while filling official forms,” the Chief Minister affirmed. “The objective is to ensure that they can reach their families within about an hour because a happy employee always performs better. Forty kilometres is only the upper limit and postings can be even closer, such as 15 or 20 kilometres.”
By prioritizing the regular input of public servants, the administration continues to refine its domestic policies. The ongoing dialogue between state authorities and institutional staff ensures that official guidelines remain responsive to the practical needs of community workers.
