Uttar Pradesh: Only 1/3rd of staff to be called to work in government offices, say CM Yogi Adityanath

LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that at any given time, only one-third of the total staff in a government office should be present for work. Unwell personnel, pregnant staff members and differently abled employees in both government offices and private companies have been asked to work from home and there is no compulsion for such staff members to come to office.
The government has also allowed for reimbursement on purchase of oxygen concentrators for government employees.
Additional chief secretary, information, Navneet Sehgal said the order will be implemented with immediate effect. “Those who are ill, differently abled and pregnant women employees in all government and private offices should work from home. Meanwhile, work in all government offices should be done with 50% personnel capacity. No more than one-third of the employees should be present at a given time,” he said.
The government has already been working on limited capacity, having earlier directed that staff is called in to work in three shifts while 50% is allowed to work from home for a week according to a roster system.
The chief minister has also directed the department concerned to issue orders that would allow for reimbursement on purchase of oxygen concentrators. An official said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, often a drop in oxygen can be addressed with oxygen concentrators, especially if one is unable to access a hospital bed immediately. “Officials and employees of the state government can purchase oxygen concentrators under the rules of medical reimbursement admissible by the government,” the spokesperson said. Yogi also said that in some districts, senior officials like the chief medical officers have been infected by Covid-19. The health department should immediately depute replacement officials in such districts so that work does not get held up.