J'khand to do away with bouquets, mementos to 'save time' at govt programmes

Ranchi: Jharkhand has decided to end the protocol of presenting mementos and flowers bouquets to guests at government programmes, as it looks forward to wrapping up events in scheduled time.

The Raghubar Das-led dispensation will also do away with the 'vote of thanks' speech at the programmes, with the host just announcing the end "appropriately", an official statement issued on Thursday by Chief Secretary DK Tiwari said.

"It is difficult to end government programmes in stipulated time. These decisions were taken to ensure that the programmes are wrapped up as per schedule," Tiwari said.

Exception, however, can be made in special cases, for which permission has to be taken in advance.

"If it is extremely important to present guests with bouquet and mementos in a programme, approval should be taken from the government in advance," the chief secretary said.

"The guests on the stage should be ideally introduced during the welcome address. One flower might be given but that, too, in exceptional cases," he said.

As for functions attended by the President, the vice-president, the Prime Minister, the governor and other important guests, the schedule should be followed minute-by-minute, with necessary approvals from the departments concerned, Tiwari added.