No Work From Home For Central Government Employees Posted In Delhi, Asked To Carpool To Office

Unlike the Delhi government which has asked its employees to work from home, due to the pollution crisis in the national capital, the Central government wants its officers to continue working from the office.

The government, through an affidavit, told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that it is not in favour of allowing WFH for employees.

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"The number of vehicles used by the Central government is a minuscule fraction of the total vehicles in the national capital and stopping their plying would not make much impact towards improving the air quality of Delhi," the affidavit stated.

Central govt considered WFH earlier

The Central Government said it had also considered the possibility of "work from home", but in the recent past, when such arrangements were made several governmental functions were impacted.

The Central Government thus considered the number of vehicles used for Central Government business in NCR and after finding that the said number is was not very significant, the Central Government decided that in view of the recent normalization of the functioning of Central Government offices post COVID-19 pandemic, the advantage of not passing work from home direction would outweigh the advantages which would be gained from work from home directions which would be limited to only less number of Central Government vehicles on road.

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Instead, the Department of Personnel and Training Government of India has issued an advisory for Central Government officers and staff for pooling and sharing of vehicles to the maximum extent possible so that number of Central Government vehicles plying for commuting of officers and staff are reduced substantially.

What Delhi government said

Meanwhile, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday said that there will be 100 per cent WFH for the government departments till November 21.

He also said that the entry of non-essential vehicles into Delhi will be banned.

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"We have given instructions for a ban on the entry of all vehicles in Delhi, except those involved in essential services. The police department and the transport department will ensure this together" Rai said.

Schools and other educational institutes in Delhi have also been asked to switch to online classes until further orders.

The government has also banned construction and demolition work in Delhi till November 21.

Rai said the Delhi Metro and the Delhi Transport Corporation have written to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority to allow people to travel in metro trains and public vehicles standing.

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