THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the fourth phase of the lockdown nearing completion, the Kerala government has issued guidelines for the smooth functioning of public offices. The order mandated all offices except those in hotspots to have 50 per cent attendance.
To ensure attendance, the district administration has been entrusted with arranging KSRTC buses for the transportation of employees stuck in other districts. The fuel expense of the transportation will be met from the State Disaster Response Fund and a fixed fare will be collected from the passengers.
Those who are unable to travel should report before the district collector in their respective locations. The district administration can utilise their services for COVID-19 containment or allocate them for works of local bodies.
Employees who cannot rejoin their home department shall keep a duty certificate issued by the temporary workplace. The duty certificate shall be presented before their respective unit head on rejoining duty. Failure to get a duty certificate will result in marking their absence from the parent office as earned leave.
The department heads shall use their discretion to give exemption to employees who are physically challenged, pregnant, critically ill, parents of children below five years of age or parents of differently abled or physically challenged children.
The order mandates that all offices involved in COVID-19 containment and precautionary measures should be fully functional. All employees who use e-office software should enable virtual private network (VPN) for safe transaction of office records.