Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister will make surprise calls on bureaucrats’ office landline phones during office hours to check if they are present or not, state Power Minister Shrikant Sharma said on Friday. “The idea is that if the top bosses are present in office, juniors will follow their example,” Sharma said according to PTI.

Adityanath will be making these calls anytime between 9 am and 6 pm. If an official is unable to explain their absence or why they did not pick up the chief minister’s call, they would be penalised, Sharma added. The senior officers in the state have been asked to shut their home offices.

The new UP administration has been carrying out surprise attendance checks in various departments to check on the bureaucrats. The chief minister had earlier said that he expected the officials to work for longer hours.

Adityanath on Tuesday had scrapped 15 public holidays that commemorate the birth and death anniversaries of public figures. However, government employees will be able to avail these holidays using their restricted holiday quota. Of the 42 public holidays the state currently has, 17 are meant to honour “great personalities”. The government will soon issue a revised holiday list.