From March 23, half of govt employees to work from home
CHANDIGARH : Starting March 23, half of Punjab government employees will work from home for a month amid the growing concerns about the spread of coronavirus, as per an order issued on Friday.
The remaining employees will have to attend office daily as per three different time slots to avoid crowding at the time of opening and closure of offices of various government departments across the state, according to instructions issued by the personnel department to all heads of departments (HoDs), registrar of Punjab of Punjab and Haryana high court, commissioners of divisions, district and sessions judges and deputy commissioners.
TheHoDshavebeeninstructed to ensure 50% of Group B, C and D employees attend office every day. They have also been advised to draft a fortnightly roster of duty of such employees and ask them to attend office accordingly. These preventive measures will be in place for two fortnights – March 23 to April 5 and April 6 to 19. The personnel department has also decided to stagger working hours into three different time slots of 9am to 5pm, 9.30am to 5.30pm and 10am to 6pm in office complexes having 100 or more employees, asking the HoDs to form three groups of employees accordingly. The government has approximately 3.5-lakh employees in various departments.
“The officials working from home should be available on telephone and electronic means of communication at all times and should attend office if called for any exigency of work,” read the instructions. The employees have also been directed to download and use a mobile app, COVA Punjab, developed by the department of governance reforms to disseminate information about precautionary measures, besides encouraging their family members to use it.
The instructions will not apply to the offices and employees of departments, including police, home guards, jails, courts, district attorneys, disaster management, health, medical education, fire, local government, power and water supply, engaged in providing essential/emergency services.
THE STATE GOVERNMENT HAS NEARLY 3.5-LAKH EMPLOYEES IN VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS