By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, APR 08, 2021: THE Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr.Jitendra Singh today reviewed the measures undertaken by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) to contain COVID spread, particularly in the wake of the recent spike in positive cases.

The meeting was attended, among others, by Union Secretary DoPT, Deepak Khandekar, Union Secretary Administrative Reforms Indevar Pandey, Union Secretary and Establishment Officer K Srinivasan, Union Secretary AlokRanjan, Secretary (Equivalent) Sujata Chaturvedi, Joint Secretary Pension S N Mathur and other senior officers in the Ministry of Personnel including DoPT, ARPG and Department of Pension.

Pertinent to mention that in view of the recent spike in COVID cases, DoPT has issued an Office Memorandum (OM) advising all the Central government employees of the age of 45 years and above to get themselves vaccinated so as to effectively contain the spread of COVID-19. Such government employees are also further advised to continue to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour even after the vaccination, like frequent washing of hands/sanitisation, wearing a mask/face cover, observing social distancing etc.

Briefing about the meeting, Dr Jitendra Singh said, Ministry of Personnel including the DoPT have been, from time to time, issuing instructions and preventive guidelines to contain the spread of COVID-19. He said, the government has been monitoring the situation very closely and based on the strategy adopted for prioritising vaccination, all persons of the age of 45 years and above can participate in the exercise. He said, it is imperative for all the government employees to avail of this vaccination facility in order to ensure their own safety as well as of those who come in their contact.

Dr Jitendra Singh also called upon the various State and Union Territory governments to adopt the guidelines/advisories issued for the Central Government employees. He said, it is essential not only for the well-being of the government functionaries but also to minimise the loss of man-days on account of government employees falling sick on account of COVID.

Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that during the last one year of the pandemic, DoPT had developed a set of guidelines to be followed in the government offices, which not only sought to contain the spread of Corona Virus but also aimed to carry on the office functioning effectively and without interruption. He said, the Work from Home (WFH) protocol developed by DoPT had been so successful that many a time, the work output was even more than the normal circumstances because government functionaries were working online even on the weekdays or holidays.

Dr Jitendra Singh hoped that from the experience gained over the last one year, it would be possible to effectively develop and implement measures to contain the fresh spike of COVID infection.