West Bengal government allows several departments to work with 100 percent staff strength

KOLKATA: With the COVID-19 pandemic on a steady decline, several departments of the West Bengal government have decided to allow all its employees to attend office, an official said on Thursday. To combat the COVID-19 contagion, the state government had issued guidelines in June last that instead of attending office for five days a week, employees would have to attend office at least thrice a week and the workplace would function with a staff strength of 70 per cent.

Employees staying in containment zones were asked to work from home.

The Personnel & Administrative Reforms department of the state government issued an order last week asking all its employees, both permanent and contractual, to attend office on all working days, he said.


The employees have to strictly follow COVID-19 safety protocols, including physical distancing, proper santisation of hands and wearing masks, it said.

"The pandemic is on the decline and we are returning to normal life. Buses, trains, metros and ferry services have resumed operations. In this situation, employees can attend office without facing any problem in commuting. As per the department's decision, all have to come to office everyday as in pre-Covid times," the official of the P&AR department said.

A similar order has been issued by the Labour and Finance Departments.

"We have already allowed 100 per cent attendance and all employees have started attending office and are adhering to mandatory COVID-19 safety protocols," state Labour Minister Malay Ghatak told .

Meanwhile, the daily fatality rate for COVID-19 patients has slipped below 10 as on Wednesday with only 7 deaths reported in West Bengal.

The daily infection rate has also dipped considerably while the recovery rate improved to 97.30 per cent on Wednesday. SCH MM MM