With rising cases of novel coronavirus cases, the State government has decided to impose restrictions on entry into the State Secretariat.
Accordingly, it has been decided to suspend issuance of routine visitor/temporary passes as part of efforts to discourage to the maximum extent entry of visitors into the complex. Only such visitors with permission from the officers concerned whom they want to meet would be allowed into the premises that too after proper screening.
In the orders issued on Friday, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar said the decision followed the concern expressed by the Health department over rising cases of COVID in the country as well as in the State. The government was however yet to take a decision on regulating the working hours for staff who had been repeatedly requesting alternate day work with duties on rotation basis.
The government had not made a mention of whether or not the command control centre to monitor COVID related developments on a daily basis would be reopened. The control centre with a dedicated team of officers and helpline number was set up during the upsurge of coronavirus cases in the first phase, but was subsequently closed after the incidence of the virus receded. There was also no decision announced with regard to employees’ demand that a vaccination centre be set up on the Secretariat premises enabling employees above 45 to get the vaccine without hassles.
