The State secretariat of Uttarakhand continued to wear a deserted look on Thursday even as Central Government- whose guidelines on COVID-19 are being ardently followed by Trivendra Singh Rawat Government - has directed officers above the rank of deputy secretaries and above to start working from their offices.
The State secretariat of Uttarakhand which is the epicentre of all Government activities has almost ceased all operations ever since the lockdown was enforced in the State on March 22 to break the infection cycle of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).
On the call given by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the State is under second phase of lockdown which would continue till May 3. The Union Government which has earlier allowed its officers work from home during the first phase of lockdown has asked all officers of the rank of deputy secretary and above to attend offices from Thursday. The officers of the joint secretary and above had started attending their offices from Monday (April 13).
This correspondent made a reality check of the secretariat on Thursday and found out that barring few, locks dangled on the doors of the offices of senior bureaucrats.
Though Chief Secretary, Utpal Kumar Singh, was present at his office, the additional chief secretaries (ACS), Radha Raturi and Om Prakash — who heads many important departments — were conspicuous by their absence.
Their offices seemed to have been closed for days. Interestingly enough, the all important secretary, Nitesh Jha was also not present in his office. Jha holds charge of health and home departments, the two most important departments which are playing stellar role in the fight to contain the spread of the COVID-19.
His personal secretary however was present in his office. Similarly secretary in- charge, B K Sant was also not found in his office.
The additional secretary of medical health and Mission Director (MD) of National Health Mission (NHM) was also not present in his office.
These days this officer works from his office located at state health directorate.
It was found that in the sprawling Vishwakarma building of the secretariat, the secretary (in-charge), Bhupal Singh Manral was the only senior officer who was
present in his office.
While on one hand, the senior officers of Uttarakhand spearheading different departments are continuing to maintain distance from their workplaces on the other hand their counterparts in Centre and other States have started working from offices.
Interestingly the state government has directed the administration to prepare work plan for the partial relaxations which the Government intends to provide in the districts where the cases of COVID-19 have not been reported. Similarly there is a big challenge before the government to bring the economy back on track after the lockdown is lifted.
The problems of farmers, stranded migrants and the issue of ready to be harvested Rabi crops also require deft handling and immediate decisions.
It is clear that these things cannot be done from a closed secretariat. Senior journalist, Rajendra Joshi said, “The senior officers should come to their offices so that things don’t become messy when the lockdown opens.
Moreover, secretariat is not a place which can get crowded by general public.’’