Punjab 1st to declare curfew

Chandigarh, March 23

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today ordered a state-wide curfew. The government has decided to further scale down its staff in government offices. Heads of departments have been asked to prepare the duty roster of bare minimum Group B, C and D employees for running essential services. The staff would report for work till April 5. The orders do not cover the departments running essential services, like the police, health, transport and food and supplies.

The government had on Friday last decided to reduce the employee strength in government offices to 50 per cent. The state’s Personnel Department has asked all Administrative Secretaries, DCs and the Registrar of Punjab and Haryana High Court to follow the guidelines. The orders are not applicable to Group A officers, employees handling emergency services and those directly engaged in initiating measures to combat Covid-19.

“Alternative attendance to office cannot be construed as holiday. As it is treated as working day, each staff member should be available at their respective residences and should respond to calls from office. As the arrangement made is on the lines of ‘work from home’, employees should not leave the headquarters or make themselves unreachable by switching off phones,” the orders read.