The Delhi government has started to install file sterilisation machines with UV light in offices in the Delhi Secretariat from this week as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19. Besides, 25 contactless hand sanitiser machines were installed in the Secretariat in the last two weeks while more will be installed in the coming days, the officials said.
More than 20 stafffers working at the Secretariat, including Minister Satyendar Jain, have tested positive for the virus so far. Also, a staffer working at Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam’s office, who tested positive for the virus, has died.
“We have installed the file sterilisation machines with UV light in at least five offices so far. These offices had raised the demand for the machines, which were procured from the GeM [Government e-Marketplace],” an official told The Hindu.
The official added that the government has not bought and stored these machines and it will be purchased when offices raise a request to the government for the same.“The machine has a capacity of 30 litres and files have to be placed inside the machine for about two to three minutes after switching it on for the files to get sterilised,” the official added.
The machine, which is about 30 centimeters high, has two horizontal compartments in which files can be kept. The official did not disclose the price.
The wall-mounted contactless machine, each costing around ₹10,000, sprays sanitiser when a person keeps his/her hand under the nozzle. “It uses alcohol-based sanitiser and we have to refill it.”
