NEW DELHI: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has sealed its Shaheed Bhagat Singh Place office in Gole Market for 48 hours after four COVID-19 cases were reported from the building in a single day. Several coronavirus cases have been reported from the offices of the civic agency since the virus outbreak.
According to sources, a total of 95 coronavirus cases have been reported from here out of which five have succumbed to the disease while 10 have recovered so far.
The employees working at Palika Kendra — the main building of the agency — are also worried about their wellbeing and have requested for that building to be sealed also.“Everyone is scared, but it seems the administrators are not worried about the health of the employees. In such times, there should be a lenient approach to handle this and allow officials to work from home,” said a staff member.
A tax inspector, one non-medical staff in the dispensary, and an accounts officer are among the officials who have tested positive for COVID-19 in different departments of the NDMC. The agency has been providing financial help to families of those who have succumbed to this disease as immediate relief. It has also asked the Delhi government to help them through their compensation scheme for COVID warriors under which `1 crore is provided to the next of kin.
“We are taking all the necessary precautions prescribed by the Central government, but cases are increasing, and we are looking into it. The financial compensation amount is being released as per the prescribed format for anyone who dies while on duty. We have also requested the Delhi government to consider NDMC employees for the compensation amount of Rs 1 crore. A reminder has also been sent two weeks ago but we are yet to get a response,” informed RP Gupta, Nodal Officer of the employee welfare cell during the COVID management, NDMC.