With around 25 Secretariat employees testing positive for COVID-19, the Tamil Nadu Secretariat Association (TANSA) has urged Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami to rethink the staff deployment policy during the pandemic.
It earlier urged the government to revert to working with 33% staff strength in each department instead of 50%. In a letter to the Chief Minister, TANSA president S. Peter Antonysamy charged that despite orders being issued to departments that staff will have to work on a rotational basis, many employees were being forced to report to work daily.
“In the Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Department, all employees are being forced to come to work daily. In some departments, office assistants, stenographers, personal staff of secretaries are forced to come to work every day. If this continues, the spread of the virus will increase,” he said.
A copy of the TANSA’s letter was released to the media. TANSA said departments must function as per protocols issued in the Government Order, implementing the rotational shift system. Departments must be advised to not force office assistants, stenographers and personal staff of secretaries to come to work daily. It demanded that employees living in coronavirus hotspots should not be deployed till the COVID-19 lockdown ends.
TANSA requested to consider the isolation period of employees who test positive for COVID-19 as Special Casual Leave. The offices in the Namakkal Kavignar Maaligai must be modified to provide ventilation as air conditioners were not allowed to operate. “In the meantime, wall-mounted fans or pedestal fans must be immediately provided in all departments. All sanitary staff must be tested twice a month and ensure that they are in good health,” the letter added.
TANSA asked the government to make travel arrangements for employees who stayed back to complete any work as travel options were limited. They also demanded that the government follow the guidelines of the Centre with relation to exempting pregnant women, employees over 55 years of age and those with certain co-morbidities from work as long as the lockdown was in effect.