Somehow most of the officers working in government or private sector institutions tend to remain in office after the office hours just to prove their dedication to work. On the contrary, that could also be taken as a sign of incompetence for if the officer is not capable enough, his/her work may not be finished in prescribed time. This cosmetic exercise of late hours at work causes loss to public expenditure in terms of utilities and allied expenses. Look at the western world, which has shown so much progress in almost every field of life. They almost religiously follow the routine of coming to the office on time and never staying even a minute more than their official timings. On the contrary, what we have observed in our society is that people turn up late in their offices and then busy themselves in social calls to colleagues (read tea-party time), calling it 'official meetings. By the time half the day is over, they start looking at their official work, thus, making an excuse of heavy workload which demands staying in office late-a false illusion to impress their seniors with 'utmost devotion to work. -DR. IRFAN ZAFAR, Islamabad, March 17.