A day after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray issued directives to work out a plan to launch two shifts for the offices in Mantralaya, Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar proposed three options. These options aim to avoid crowding amidst the rise in COVID-19 cases in Mumbai. Mantralaya houses all the government departments with more than 5,000 employees as well as the offices of CM, Deputy CM, ministers and bureaucrats.
Kumar, in a letter to all the department heads, suggested that the attendance of Mantralaya employees could be set for alternate days. He also suggested that employees could work for three days followed by a holiday of four days. Thirdly, employees could work for a week. In the subsequent week, they would get a paid leave.
Kumar has asked the department secretaries to select the workable option from the three that he had suggested. However, he has insisted that, while opting for any viable option, the functioning of the departments should not be impacted. Kumar said the department secretary can also consider an option of full attendance of the employees only by strictly adhering to the COVID-19 norms.
In a related development, employee unions have also urged the state government to immediately take steps to control the number of visitors in Mantralaya. As reported by the Free Press Journal, Thackeray has instructed the chief secretary to immediately devise a plan for Mantralaya offices to work in two shifts and also determine how many departments could work at full capacity by allowing its employees to work from home. This is to curb the crowd that throngs to Mantralaya during its current working hours.
