COVID-19: Govt offices in Odisha to function with 50 pc employees

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], April 17 (ANI): In view of the sudden surge of COVID-19 infections in Odisha, the state government on Wednesday directed all departments and subordinate offices in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack to function with a 50 per cent strength of employees. The order will come into effect from April 19.
However, the rank of Deputy Secretary and above will have to attend the office daily.
According to a statement issued by the General Administration and Public Grievance Department of Odisha, the heads of departments and offices in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack shall be at liberty to decide the manner of selection of employees who will attend office and prepare a roster of duty quickly.
"However, the essential offices/services such as Office of Special Relief Commissioner and OSDMA offices, Police, Fire Services, Health Services, Municipal services shall function in full strength," the statement said.
"In case of detection of any COVID-19 case among the office employees, the concerned office should follow all the protocol issued by the government," it said.
"The officers/staff who have been provided with VPN will work from home, when not assigned roster duty. They must be available to attend to any office work of urgent nature, at short notice and be available on telephone at all times," it added.
Meanwhile, the state government has also asked private firms and organizations to reduce their staff strength in view of the current COVID-19 situation.
According to Union Health Ministry, there are 13,837 active COVID-19 cases in Odisha, while the cumulative cases of the infection has been mounted to 3,42,570. (ANI)