Odisha government employees resume work in offices

Bhubaneswar: Senior officers of the Odisha government joined their offices on Monday, nearly a month after restrictions were imposed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, an official said.

While all Class-I officers resumed work from their offices, including state secretariat Lok Seva Bhavan, other subordinate staff started working on a roster basis, he said.

As per the roster system, 33 per cent of the junior staff of different departments will be working on a rotational basis.

The offices, barring those of some crucial departments, remained closed due to the lockdown imposed on March 22 in the wake of the outbreak.

The state government had classified 11 departments in the emergency category, senior officers of which continued to attend offices, while the junior staff was asked to stay at home.

The state government relaxed the lockdown norms in some parts of the state, but there was no such breather for the residents of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and other areas that reported COVID-19 cases as strict restrictions continued, the official said.

COVID-19 cases have been reported from 10 of the states 30 districts. The affected districts are Khurda (46), Bhadrak (8), Balasore (3), Kendrapara, Jajpur, Kalahandi and Sundergarh (two each) and one each from Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Puri.

Chief Secretary A K Tripathy on Sunday said while the agriculture sector is being cautiously opened up, there will be not much change in Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack and the twin cities will continue to be under lockdown restrictions.

The state government has relaxed certain restrictions in agriculture, construction and allied sectors from Monday as per the Centre”s guidelines and the situation will be reviewed from time to time, he said.

Bhubaneswar-Cuttack”s Commissioner of Police S Sarangi also reiterated that there won”t be any relaxations in the twin cities.

“The situation is under review. We request citizens for their continued co-operation, he added.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has also issued a notification informing people that the lockdown restrictions will continue in its jurisdiction.

Sarangi said the employees of IT & ITES companies in Bhubaneswar will continue with the work from home arrangement and function with a maximum of 25 per cent staff in their offices.

They will be allowed movement on showing company identity card and email that says they are part of the 25 per cent workforce asked to attend office.

For the central government employees in Bhubaneswar, officers above the rank of deputy secretary resumed attending offices.

(PTI)