News Analysis India

Tag: Personnel ministry

  • Centre extends work from home for 50% staffers below level of Under Secretary till Feb 15

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday extended work from home arrangement for 50 per cent of its employees below the level of Under Secretary till February 15, according to a Personnel Ministry order.

    Persons with disabilities and pregnant women employees would continue to be exempted from attending offices.

    The Personnel Ministry had on January 3 issued an order allowing work from home 50 per cent of employees below the level of Under Secretary till January 31, because of the rise in Covid cases.

    In an order issued on Monday extending the arrangements till February 15, it said Central government officers and staffers will have to follow staggered timing — 9 am to 5.30 pm and 10 am to 6.30 pm — to avoid overcrowding in offices.

    “Physical attendance of government servants below the level of Under Secretary shall be restricted to 50 per cent of the actual strength and the remaining 50 per cent shall work from home. A roster may be prepared accordingly by all the departments concerned,” it had said.

    All officers of the level of Under Secretary and above are to attend office regularly, the order stated.

    Personnel Ministry also extended the suspension of biometric attendance for the employees till February 15. It had earlier this month suspended the marking of biometric attendance for all its employees till January 31, as a precautionary measure to check the spread of Covid.

  • Over 1.59 lakh RTI applications filed online in eight years, 11,376 by women: Personnel Ministry

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Of the more than 1.59 lakh applications filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in the last eight years, 11,376 were filed by women and the rest by men, according to the personnel ministry’s data.

    Replying to an RTI query, the ministry said that a total of 1,59,107 applications were filed under the Act between April 22, 2013 and November 12, 2021. Of the applicants, 11,376 (slightly over seven per cent of the total number) were women and 1,47,731 men, it said.

    Commodore (retd) Lokesh K Batra had sought the gender-wise details from the personnel ministry on the total number of RTI applications filed through a dedicated website. The portal — www.rtionline.gov.in — allows online filing of RTI applications.

    There is a provision for the applicants to mention their gender — male, female and the third gender — while raising RTI queries through the website.

    In response to the application, the ministry said as many as 15,986 applications (1,507 by women and 14,479 by men) were filed in 2021 (till November 12), 20,792 (1,968 by women and 18,824 by men) in 2020 and 20,762 (1,612 women and 19,150 men) in 2019.

    A total of 19,709 RTI queries (1,433 women and 18,276 men) were raised in 2018, 18,869 (1,219 women and 17,650 men) in 2017, 17,800 (885 women and 16,915 men) in 2016, 16,210 (981 women and 15,229 men) in 2015 and 16,626 (1,049 women and 15,577 men) in 2014, it said.

    As many as 12,353 RTI applications were filed in 2013 (from April 22 onwards — the date of the launch of the portal). Of the applicants, 722 were women and 11,631 were men, the reply said. “The data shows that there is a need for creating larger awareness among females about their right to know,” Batra said.

  • Centre decides to resume biometric attendance for employees of all levels from November 8

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Union government has decided to resume biometric attendance for employees of all levels from November 8, the Personnel Ministry said on Monday.

    It shall be the responsibility of heads of department to ensure that sanitisers are mandatorily placed beside biometric machines and all employees sanitize their hands before and after marking the attendance, it said.

    The employees were previously exempted from biometric attendance due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

    “Physical distancing of six feet must be maintained by all employees while marking their attendance. If required, additional biometric attendance machines may be installed to avoid overcrowding,” the Personnel Ministry said in an order to all central government ministries and departments.

    All employees shall be required to wear masks or face covers at all times, including while waiting to mark their attendance, it said.

    “Meetings, as far as possible, shall continue to be conducted on video conferencing and personal meetings with visitors, unless necessary in public interest, are to be avoided,” the order stated.

    All officers and staff shall strictly follow COVID-appropriate behaviour at all times in offices, the Personnel Ministry said.

  • Senior bureaucrat JB Mohapatra appointed as CBDT chairman

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Senior bureaucrat JB Mohapatra has been appointed the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the Personnel Ministry said in an order Wednesday. Mohapatra, a 1985-batch Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) officer, is currently the member in the board that frames the policy for the Income Tax department.

    The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of JB Mohapatra, as chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes, the order said. He has been holding the additional charge of CBDT chairman since May31, after the extended tenure of incumbent PC Mody had ended.

  • Staggered working hours, limited attendance announced in central government offices amid COVID surge

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday announced guidelines for its employees, including staggered office hours and 50 per cent attendance of officers of the level of Under Secretary and below, in view of a surge in COVID-19 cases.

    All officers of the level of Deputy Secretary, equivalent and above are to attend office on a regular basis, a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry said. It said that physical attendance of the officers of the level of Under Secretary or equivalent and below to be restricted to 50 per cent of the actual strength

    “Secretary/head of Department (HoD) may regulate the attendance of officials and may, on administrative grounds, direct more officials to attend office,” the statement said. The persons with disabilities and pregnant women employees may be exempted from attending office, but they shall continue to work from home, until further orders, it said.

    MoS (Personnel) Jitendra Singh said that the guidelines, which were issued in view of the unprecedented rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and to take measures to prevent its spread, “shall come into effect immediately and will remain in force until 30.04.2021 or further orders”.

    He hoped that all these instructions will be followed in letter and spirit in the interest of the well-being of all the citizens and government employees and their families. Singh expressed hope that the state/Union Territory governments will also contemplate on similar guidelines, according to the statement.

    The Personnel Ministry said that the officers/staff shall follow staggered timings — 9 AM to 5.30 PM, 9.30 AM to 6 PM and 10 AM to 6.30 PM — to avoid overcrowding in offices. “All officials who do not attend office on a particular day are to make themselves available on telephone and other electronic means of communication at all times from their residence and work from home,” it said.

    The statement said that all officials residing in containment zones shall continue to be exempted from coming to office till the containment zone is denotified. All officials who attend office shall strictly follow COVID-19-appropriate behaviour including wearing of mask, physical distancing, use of sanitiser and frequent hand washing with soap and water, it said.

    The Personnel Ministry said that crowding in lifts, staircases, corridors, common areas including refreshment kiosk and parking areas is to be strictly avoided.

    “The meetings, as far as possible, to be conducted through video-conferencing and entry of outside visitors to be curtailed appropriately. Proper cleaning and frequent sanitization of the workplace, particularly of the frequently touched surfaces may be ensured,” the statement said.

    Biometric attendance shall continue to be suspended and physical attendance registers to be maintained until further orders, it said.

  • Centre asks all its employees aged 45 years and above to get themselves vaccinated

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday asked all its employees aged 45 years and above to get themselves vaccinated to effectively contain the spread of COVID-19.

    They are further advised to continue to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour even after vaccination by frequent washing of hands and sanitisation, wearing a mask or face cover and observing social distancing, etc., an order issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

    The government has been monitoring the situation very closely, and based on the strategy adopted for prioritising the groups for vaccination to contain the spread of COVlD-19, currently, all persons of the age of 45 years and above can participate in the vaccination exercise, it said.

    “In view of the above, all central government employees of the age of 45 years and above are advised to get themselves vaccinated so as to effectively contain the spread of COVID-19,” said the order issued to all the central government ministries and departments.

    The order comes amid an alarming spike in COVID-19 cases in the country in the last few weeks.