Coronavirus: Secretariat vacant as staff take leave as precaution

A day after the state government decided to not allow visitors inside Mantralaya owing to the coronavirus outbreak, the secretariat wore a deserted look on Tuesday

A day after the state government decided to not allow visitors inside Mantralaya owing to the coronavirus outbreak, the secretariat wore a deserted look on Tuesday as many state government employees also did not turn up to work.

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With the rising number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, the state government employees’ union had demanded shutting of offices as a precautionary measure after a Mantralaya staffer showed symptoms of the disease. The union wrote to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday demanding a shutdown of government offices. However, the government decided not to shut offices for the time being.

The office-bearers maintain that employees are fearful and the government should lockdown the state headquarters. “People are fearful, we employees are also human, and therefore have the same fear. We can cope up with the pending work of the citizens after the shutdown is lifted,” said Milind Sardeshmukh, working president of the state government employees’ union. He added that some staffers did not attend office on Tuesday as a precautionary step.

Vishnu Patil, general secretary of the union, said that they had suggested preventive measures including allowing staggering work hours to prevent employees to use public transport during rush hour, mandatory checks for state employees who have travelled to a foreign country in the last one month among others. “We are not seeking paid holidays for selfish reasons. Staffers are afraid as recently an employee was suspected after his brother was found positive of the coronavirus infection,” Patil said.

In a relief to several employees, the secretariat staffer and his kin, suspected to have contacted the virus, were tested negative on Tuesday. After one of the staffer’s relatives tested positive of the virus, the public works department (PWD), which looks after the seven-floor Mantralaya building, initiated a sanitation drive on Tuesday.“The cleaners have been directed to wipe door handles, railings, desks, cubicle partitions, escalators, staircase handles,” a PWD official said.