KOLKATA: The West Bengal government on Tuesday made wearing face masks mandatory for its officers and staff and cautioned them that any violation would "be seriously viewed".
It also said that only asymptomatic officers and staff shall be allowed to attend office on a rotation basis.
"While in office premises, wearing of face masks at all times, frequent hand washing, use of hand sanitiser and adherence to other safety measures as notified earlier shall be strictly followed. Any case of non-wearing of masks shall be seriously viewed," it said in guidelines issued for its staff.
"Anyone with any sort of symptoms like mild fever, cough and cold need not attend office and officers and staff residing in containment zone shall not come to the office. He/she will work from home until the area is declared as a Clear Area (category C). Staff not attending office should work from home through e-office," it stated.
It noted that officers and staff who share a common sitting place should not exceed 10 on a rotation basis and the distance between two desks be more than two metres.
"In case it is not possible to maintain the distance of two metres with the presence of ten persons in a common area/enclosure, the number of officers and staff should be further reduced. In that case, the overall attendance of 70 per cent as stipulated in the order dated May 30 may be reduced. The roster should be prepared accordingly on a weekly basis," the guidelines said.
Sitting arrangements for visitors shall also be made keeping a distance of at least two metres, it added.
Frequently disinfection programs of personal equipment such as keyboards, mouses, phones, air conditioning remotes should be carried out by staff themselves and arrangements "shall be made for disinfection of frequently touched places such as electric switches, doorknobs, washroom fixtures, elevator switches", it said.
Total sanitization of offices should be conducted on a regular basis once in a fortnight, the guidelines said.
The state government also stressed that "face to face meetings should be avoided and officers and staff should use the intercom, phone and video conferences for interactions".
In the lifts at all state governments offices, not more than three persons shall be allowed to enter at a time, it stated.