Output of employees increased in some cases during WFH: Jitendra Singh

Union minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said the output of the employees, in some cases, has increased during the work-from-home regime.

Work from home has also resulted in employees working on weekends and holidays to achieve the target given to them, the minister of state for personnel said.

Singh reached out to the employees of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions working from home and also those in quarantine or infected with the coronavirus.

He inquired about the well-being of each one of them and also asked them to share their experiences and suggestions, according to a statement issued by the personnel ministry.

Singh lauded the efforts, dedication and commitment of the officers and staff to ensure that the office functions without interruptions during the pandemic and noted with appreciation that the output has not suffered and in stead, in some cases, it has increased because of the target-oriented work culture with flexible timings.

He said the overall output was also better due to the near total adoption of the e-office mode.

Several officers and staff of the ministry shared their experiences online with the minister and reiterated their commitment to the target-oriented work culture, it said.

Singh assured those affected by the pandemic and their family members of all help and support from the ministry, the statement said. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection has been provided to all the employees to facilitate work from home, it added.

Singh said pregnant women and "divyang" (differently-abled) employees have been exempted from attending office and the physical attendance of government servants below the level of undersecretary has been restricted to 50 per cent of the actual strength and the remaining 50 per cent shall work from home.

However, the minister said the officials and staff who are not attending office and are working from home shall remain available over the phone and through other electronic means of communications at all times.

He advised all the officers and staff to ensure a strict compliance of Covid-appropriate behaviour, including frequent washing of hands or sanitisation, wearing face masks or face covers and observing social distancing all the time. Proper cleaning and sanitisation of the workplace, particularly the frequently-touched surfaces, may also be ensured, he added.

During the meeting, Singh noted with satisfaction that all the eligible employees aged 18 years and above were fully vaccinated against Covid and made a general appeal to those who are yet to get inoculated against the viral disease to get the jabs immediately.

The minister was apprised that of the 663 officers and staff of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), 46 tested positive for Covid with mild symptoms and 20 of them have recovered.

Similarly, eight of the 158 employees in the Department of Administrative Reform and Public Grievances (DARPG) and six of the 58 employees in the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW) got infected during the third wave of the pandemic. However, not a single case of hospitalisation was reported, the statement said.

Secretary, DoPT, P K Tripathy, Secretary, DARPG and Pensions, V Srinivas, Additional Secretary, DoPT, Rashmi Chowdhary, Additional Secretary and Establishment Officer, DoPT, Deepti Umashankar, Jaya Dubey, Joint Secretary, DARPG, and other senior officials attended the meeting.