Central government employees aged above 18 years get themselves vaccinated at the earliest: Union Minister Jitendra Singh

New Delhi, May 4: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Jitendra Singh today appealed to all the eligible employees of the age of 18 years and above to get themselves vaccinated at the earliest. A circular in this regard was already issued by the DoPT on 22.04.2021. Earlier, in compliance with the OM of even number dated 6.4.2021, the Minister had appealed to all the eligible employees of the age of 45 years and above to get themselves vaccinated. He also expressed satisfaction that the DoPT has organized regular camps for vaccination at North Block and all officers above 18 are taking benefits of the same after registering on www.cowin.gov.in. Such government employees are also further advised to continue to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour even after the vaccination, like frequent washing of hands/sanitisation, wearing a mask/face cover, observing social distancing etc. Jitendra Singh also drew attention to the recent OM issued on 03.05.2021, which is a reiteration of early order issued on 19.04.2021 regarding preventive measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. These instructions/ guidelines have come into effect and will remain in force until 31.05.2021 or further orders, whichever is earlier. The Minister hoped that all these instructions will be followed in letter and spirit in the interest of the well-being of all the citizens and government employees and their families. He, however, reiterated that official work will not be allowed to suffer and all attempts will be made to minimise the loss of man-days on account of government employees falling sick on account of COVID. Jitendra Singh also instructed the Department to write to all Chief Secretaries of States and Administrators of UTs to issue guidelines on the model of DoPT and after taking into account the local circumstances and needs of the respective States and UTs. He said, the government has been monitoring the situation very closely and undertaking review of the same from time to time. Jitendra Singh recalled that during the last one year of the pandemic, DoPT had developed a set of guidelines to be followed in the government offices, which not only sought to contain the spread of Corona Virus but also aimed to carry on the office functioning effectively and without interruption. He said, the Work from Home (WFH) protocol developed by DoPT had been so successful that many a time, the work output was even more than the normal circumstances because government functionaries were working online even on the weekdays or holidays.