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UP gets ready to get back to the grind gradually
In consonance with a central government order, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to start select activities from April 20 in the state to mitigate the hardship of people under the nationwide lockdown.
In consonance with a central government order, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to start select activities from April 20 in the state to mitigate the hardship of people under the nationwide lockdown.
Chief secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari said the state government had decided to start the functioning of government offices, factories and other activities in accordance with guidelines issued by the Union ministry of home affairs on April 15.
The order directed the state government to ensure that all preparatory arrangements with regard to social distancing, sanitisation and other protective measures are implemented in the offices, workplaces, factories and other establishments, he said.
A meeting of the heads of various state government departments was held under chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday to prepare a work plan for the opening of the government offices, operation of the factories and other activities from April 20. The heads of departments were directed to implement the order according to the work plan, he said.
GOVERNMENT OFFICES AND SECRETARIAT
Additional chief secretary, Secretariat Administration, Mahesh Gupta said all the heads of departments, including the officers of the rank of the additional chief secretary, principal secretary, special secretary, as well as the junior officers, will resume work compulsorily in their offices on April 20. They will discharge their duties and works assigned by the state government, he said.
The officers will call one-third of the clerical and office staff on duty daily. The department heads will prepare a duty roster for the clerical staff. The staff, who are handicapped or ill, will be exempted from office duties. The officers and staff residing in hotspots will follow the directives of the district magistrate and the police commissioner, he said.
The government offices will be sanitised, officers and employees will follow social distancing rules and cover their faces with masks, he said. The entry of outsiders in offices will be prohibited. Only persons permitted by the head of the department will be allowed entry on the basis of a pass, he said.
The officers and employees will not be permitted to leave the headquarters, but will be granted leave for emergency works.
The employees granted permission to work from home will not leave their homes during office hours and remain connected with the office through mobile or the internet, Gupta said.
Another senior state government officer said the divisional commissioners, as well as the district magistrates of all the divisions and districts, were directed to start working in the collectorate and district offices according to the guidelines.
Government treasuries in all the 75 districts will become functional and the required staff will be on duty to operate the treasuries, he said.
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES
A state government spokesperson said the state government had issued an order to all divisional commissioners and district magistrates that ‘continous process industries’ were permitted to operate in the state during the lockdown. The state government had listed 11 types of industries that can operate and the riders associated with the operation.
The 11 industries that can function as continuous process industries in the state include steel, refineries, cement, fertilisers, textile (but not garments), boundaries, paper, tyre, common effluent treatment plants, and sugar mills.
The industries will follow the guidelines, including sanitisation and social distancing. These industries will work with minimum possible workforce and under no circumstances should it increase to more than 50% of the total staff strength. The units that fail to implement the order will be closed.
Principal secretary, excise, Sanjay Bhoosreddy said, all the distilleries in the state were directed to manufacture sanitisers.
LAUNCH OF MGNREGS
The state government has decided to launch Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) outside the containment zones in the state after April 20 to give jobs to migrant workers, who have returned to their villages in Uttar Pradesh after the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
POLICE FORCE
A state government officer said police personnel, home guards, civil defence, emergency services, prisons and local bodies staff will continue to discharge their duties as usual.
Director general of police HC Awasthi on Saturday directed all zonal ADGs, IGs, DIG and superintendents of police to implement the lockdown orders effectively across the state from April 20 as was done by the officers since March 25 when the nationwide lockdown first came into force.
He said during search operations, the police personnel will move with masks, gloves, riot control and body protection equipment and carry polycarbonate sheets.
