UP secretariat makes mask mandatory at work

The Uttar Pradesh secretariat has made wearing of a mask mandatory at work for all officers and employees for protection against the coronavirus.

The Uttar Pradesh secretariat has made wearing of a mask mandatory at work for all officers and employees for protection against the coronavirus. It also ordered sanitisation of office space, furniture and lift buttons twice or thrice every day.

“All officers and staff in secretariat will mandatorily wear mask while working in office. All officers/employees will make their own arrangements for mask… all the furniture, railings, telephones, lift buttons and water taps should be sanitised twice or thrice,” said additional chief secretary, secretariat administration department (SAD), Mahesh Gupta in an order dated April 21.

The SAD’s order titled “measures to be adopted to check the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) in the secretariat premises” comes after the secretariat employees’ union expressed serious concern over the “prevailing atmosphere of corona fear” among the employees following the state government’s decision to open all the departments in the state secretariat from April 20.

The state government asked all officers from the additional chief secretary to section officer’s rank and one third of the remaining staff (as per roster) to regularly attend their offices situated in the secretariat.

“Yes, the employees in the secretariat are under fear of coronavirus. We have demanded that only the departments involved in the fight against coronavirus should be opened during the lockdown period. The central air conditioning system in the Lok Bhawan should be shut down immediately, as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Lok Bhawan houses offices of the chief minister, the chief secretary and other senior officers,” said UP secretariat employees union president Yadvendra Mishra.

“Barring Lok Bhawan, the central air conditioning system is not working in any other building of the secretariat,” said a senior officer.

Mishra said the state government should review the decision to open all the departments in the state secretariat.

“This decision has led to overcrowding in the secretariat. No space is left for scooter/car parking. Women and senior employees and officers are finding it difficult to reach office in the absence of public transport,” said Mishra.

The order has also asked the staff not to crowd any place and respect social distancing in offices. The order said arrangements for wash basins and liquid soap were made at every gate and thermal scanners given to security staff there. It asked the staff to extend necessary cooperation in carrying out thermal scanning and get a medical examination done if the temperature was reported high. The secretariat administration department’s order said while the departments already working to fight against coronavirus will continue to function in the same manner, other departments were put in three categories.

The order staggers the working hours of these departments into three shifts -9am-5pm, 10am-6pm and 11am-7pm.