Odisha Govt Brings Agri, Drinking Water Depts Under Critical Category Amid COVID-19 Fight

Bhubaneswar: With the lockdown extended till April 30, the Odisha government decided to involve five more departments, including Agriculture, in the fight against COVID-19 by brining them under the critical category.

This decision was taken to facilitate farming activities with kharif crop season beginning on Akshaya Tritiya later this month. Drinking Water Department also figures in the critical list as rural areas in the state have started experiencing the summer water woes.

The other three departments are Fisheries and ARD, Labour and ESI and Panchayati Raj. Earlier, only Food Supplies, General Administration, Housing and Urban Development, Health, Home and Special Relief Commissioner were listed as critical.

The offices of critical category departments in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack will function with 50 per cent manpower. The administrative departments will decide about the scale of operation in field offices, a GA Department order said.

Similarly, Commerce and Transport, Electronics and IT, Energy, Finance, Forest and Environment, I&PR, Revenue, SCST development, SSEPD, Steel and Mines, Works and Women and Child Development along with Odisha State Pollution Control Board have been declared as partially critical. These offices will function with 10 per cent manpower.

The employees of the remaining departments – Tourism, Culture, Planning and Convergence, Parliamentary Affairs, Public Enterprises, Rural Development and School and Mass Education – are not required to attend office and can work from home, the order added.