Maharashtra govt asks employees to restrict mobile phone usage, check details

Maharashtra govt. asked its employees to keep the use of mobile phones to a minimum during office hours, saying that landline phones are more preferable.

Mumbai: As the Pegasus spyware issue is being hotly debated in the country, the Maharashtra government on Friday (July 23) asked its employees to keep the use of mobile phones to a minimum during office hours, saying that landline phones are more preferable. An order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) said mobile phones should be used only if necessary for official work. Indiscriminate use of mobile phones in office maligns the government's image, the order said, without any reference to the spyware row. Text messages should be used more if mobile phones are to be used at all and conversation through these devices should be as little as possible, it added. The use of social media through mobile devices during officer hours should be limited, the government said. Personal calls on mobile phones should be answered by stepping out of office, the `code of conduct' further said.