Now, J’khand govt staff must inform dept heads before moving out of state

Ranchi: The state government has made it compulsory for all its employees to take written permission to venture out of their areas of posting, including inter and intra-state travels, and inform their respective departments if any of their outstation relatives visit them and keep them in home quarantine.
The order, issued by chief secretary Sukhdev Singh on Friday night and notified by the state personnel, administrative reforms and rajbhasa departments, said, “The employee concerned must keep such relatives/visitors in home quarantine and ensure that no one comes in contact with them.”
In addition, the government employees are now required to take permission from their respective department heads to venture out of their headquarters (the areas where they are currently posted).
As per the new order, anyone moving out of his/her headquarters, be it for personal or professional reasons, the employee must inform his department head in writing.
The order further said, “If any government employee is venturing out of Jharkhand, he/she must seek permission from his department before doing so. The said worker must specify in writing as to why he/she is stepping out of the state.”
The order added, “Once he/she comes back to Jharkhand, the said employee needs to go for a 14-day home quarantine and the government will sanction leaves for them for the said period.”
The latest order assumes importance in the backdrop of several government employees testing positive for Covid-19 after either coming in contact with outstation guests or owing to their travel history.
An official in the state personnel department said that in the last few weeks, there have been several instances of people from Bihar and Bengal visiting their near and dear ones in Jharkhand for various reasons, which is leading to the spread of the virus. “Also, many of the government workers, who tested positive, have had travel history or came directly in contact with a Covid-positive outstation relative who visited them recently. Given the scenario, such precautionary measures were necessary,” he added.
State health secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni, while talking to TOI a few days back, had expressed concern over the “casual attitude of some government officials who were going for inter-state tours, attending marriage ceremonies and so on, following the nationwide Unlock 1.0, which is leading to a surge in cases”.
Given the spike in cases, the state government has not allowed any relaxation till August 31, even though the Union government’s Unlock 3.0 permits the opening of yoga centres and gymnasiums from next week.