Government rejects separate time zone for northeastern states citing strategic reasons

A committee, formed to look into having a separate time zone for the North-Eastern States, has recommended against it on “strategic grounds”, the government informed the Lok Sabha on 20 December. In a written reply to a question on requests from North-Eastern States In a separate time zone, Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan said such requests have been made on the grounds that the sunrise and sunset times in these places it is much earlier than official working hours.

“The National Physical Education Laboratory (NPL) has published some papers in scientific journals on this subject, referring to saving electricity,” said Mr. Vardhan. The matter was looked into by a High Level Committee (HLC) comprising the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology and the Chief Secretary of Tripura, he added.

However, in response to the question, there was no mention of when the panel was constituted. “The HLC, after considering the issue, recommended that there should not be two time zones for India for strategic reasons,” he said. A senior official of the Ministry of Science and Technology said the committee was constituted several years ago.

The demand for a separate time zone is not new. In 2017, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu called for a separate time zone for the northeastern States stating that many working hours are lost as offices open late and the sun rises early.

France has 12 time zones, while the US has 11 and Australia has eight. Like India, China has only one time zone.