Nagpur: Following the directives of state government, most government departments barring those providing essential services are working with 5% staff in the office. The heads of department and a few officers come to the office but there is no work and they go home after some time.
Ulhas Debadwar, the chief engineer of public works department (PWD), said only 5% staffers were working in his organization. “I have asked one staffer from each wing to attend office. This staffer has the passwords of computers of his colleagues. The other staffers are not relaxing but are available on WhatsApp. We are issuing necessary orders on WhatsApp and those working from home can print it and treat it as an official order. As such, there is no work but we can’t relax because an emergency can arise any time and all of us must be prepared for that,” he told TOI.
A MahaMetro spokesperson said trains had stopped plying and all the staffers had been sent home. “However, construction activity is going on at a couple of places. We have permission from district collector. We have sent another communication to him seeking further directions. If he asks us to stop construction fully we will do that. The construction workers have been provided masks and sanitizers,” he added.
Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC), which manages reservoirs, however, has not reduced its field staff. “All the staffers are on duty at the dams because the water supply is an essential service. However, at offices we have only 5% staff,” said chief engineer B Swami.
Resident deputy collector Ravindra Khajanchi, however, said that district collector office was functioning with 20 to 25% staff as the office was supervising the whole district. “We have asked the staffers to come to duty on a rotational basis,” he said.
Banks come under essential services and they are working with 50% of staff. An employee of State Bank of India (SBI), Congress Nagar branch, said that number of customers had reduced a lot. “After the curfew from today, the number of people coming to the bank was even less than Monday,” she said. An employee of SBI’s Jai Prakash Nagar branch said the same thing.
