Two Indian ministers have directed that 50 per cent of employees in departments under their supervision work from home as air pollution in Delhi has reached the ‘severe’ category, with thick smog covering the city.
Indian Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Transport Minister Pankaj Singh, who also holds the health portfolio, issued the directives on Friday amid rising pollution levels, reports NDTV.
The move is intended to reduce vehicular pollution by limiting the number of employees commuting to their workplaces, officials said.
Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) reached 403 on Friday morning, placing it in the ‘severe’ category. It improved slightly to 373 by 4pm but remained in the ‘very poor’ category.
Apart from the environment portfolio, Sirsa oversees food and civil supplies, industries, and forest and wildlife. Pankaj Singh is also in charge of health and family welfare and information technology, in addition to transport.
However, a government official clarified that the work-from-home directive applied only to employees and officers posted at the Delhi Secretariat. It did not cover hospital staff.
“Yes, this order only for employees and officers working at the Secretariat, not for the Health Department. All personnel working in hospitals fall under essential services,” the official said.
Essential services exempt
The exemption covers not only hospitals and the Health Department but also other essential services where maintaining the 50 per cent work-from-home arrangement is not practical.
These include critical operations related to emergency response, fire services, electricity, water supply, sanitation and public transport, depending on operational requirements.
According to an order issued by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on 30 October, government and private offices in Delhi and five adjoining National Capital Region (NCR) districts must maintain a maximum of 50 per cent physical attendance from 5 to 20 November.
The remaining employees are required to work from home.
The directive applies to Delhi and the districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar. It is not limited to employees posted at the Delhi Secretariat.
However, the order exempts industrial establishments and essential services where implementing the arrangement is not feasible.
Delhi’s winter action plan
The Delhi government’s winter action plan, which came into effect on November 1, also includes a provision for 50 per cent of employees to work from home.
Under the plan, administrative secretaries and heads of departments must attend office regularly, while no more than half of the workforce can be physically present at a time.
The remaining employees are required to work remotely. However, department heads can call additional staff to the office whenever necessary to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of essential and emergency public services.
The directives come as Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) has been in force across Delhi-NCR since November 6.
Under GRAP Stage III, governments in the NCR are required to decide whether public, municipal and private offices should operate with 50 per cent of their staff physically present.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ category on Saturday morning, with several monitoring stations continuing to record pollution levels in the ‘severe’ category.
