Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Sunday announced that in view of the decline in the number of daily COVID-19 cases as well as decline in positivity rate, it has been decided that full office attendance shall be resumed from Monday. There will no more be "work from home" option. Employees at all levels, without any exemption, are to attend office on regular basis with effect from February 7, 2022, he said after a review meeting of the pandemic situation in the country.
Head of Departments should, however, ensure that employees wear face masks at all times and continue to follow the COVID appropriate behaviour, said the Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; and MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space.
This is in supersession of the earlier Circular according to which the 50 per cent office attendance rule had been extended till February 15. But, after obtaining inputs from the relevant quarters and review of the situation, a fresh OM (Office Memorandum) is issued by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) informing that all the employees at all levels, without any exemption, will report to office from tomorrow, that is, February 7 2022. There will no more be "work from home" option for any employee, the minister said as per a PIB release.
DoPT had issued certain guidelines through an Office Memorandum (OM) dated January 3, 2022 and the same were being reviewed from time to time depending upon the pandemic situation, the minister said.
In a subsequent review, it was considered appropriate to extend these guidelines up to 15th February, he said. The physical attendance of government servants below the level of the Under Secretary was restricted to 50 per cent of the actual strength and the remaining 50 per cent were asked to work from home. In addition to this, the persons with disability and pregnant women employees were exempted from attending office. The officers and staff working from home were asked to remain available on telephone and other means of communication at all times.
Meanwhile, in January, Dr Jitendra Singh held a video conference and spoke to the employees working from home as well as those who had tested positive for COVID. He had enquired about their well-being and also sought their inputs and views, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions stated on Sunday.
