50% govt employees to work from home in Delhi

The Delhi Government on Wednesday announced that 50 per cent of its employees will work from home owing to the deteriorating air quality in the Capital. Besides, it has advised private offices to implement the same.

Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the Delhi Government offices had already adjusted the timings to ease road congestion and an advisory was being issued to revise private offices’ working hours as well.

Meanwhile, the office of the Gurugram Deputy Commissioner advised private corporate offices to implement staggered timings for their employees.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Air Quality Index (AQI) was clocked at 419 at 4 pm, continuing to remain in the ‘severe’ category. Meanwhile, the maximum and minimum temperatures dropped a degree below normal — it was recorded at 26.8°C and 11.2°C, respectively.

Rai held a meeting with officials and industry representatives to enforce work-from-home policies in both government and private offices, stagger office timings and reduce vehicular congestion. “If Delhi acts alone while the BJP-ruled states ignore their responsibilities, clean air will remain out of reach,” he said.

Rai said the pollution levels across North India had been consistently rising over the past three days. The minister said the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the implementation of a 50 per cent work-from-home policy in government as well as private offices.

“After detailed discussions, it was decided that all Delhi Government offices, except those providing essential and emergency services, would adopt a 50 per cent work-from-home policy,” Rai added.

Eighteen essential services such as medical care, solid waste management, public cleaning and sanitation, community and public toilets, fire services, power and water supply, etc, notified under essential and emergency services, will continue to operate at full capacity to avoid any inconvenience to the public.

He also suggested that private organisations should consider using shuttle bus services for employees to reduce the reliance on private vehicles.

The AAP leader said previous pollution peaks had seen ministers carpooling or using public transport, but with the increasing adoption of electric vehicles, the government was now prioritising their use.

Rai appealed to the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fulfill their responsibility and actively work towards addressing the pollution crisis in north India.

Meanwhile, a recent study by LocalCircles, a local online community platform, claimed that three in 10 Delhi-NCR residents surveyed are having health issues due to high level of air pollution. It also conducted a survey to analyse how many NCR residents visited a doctor or a hospital or bought medicines for pollution-related health related ailments. The survey, which received 21,000 responses, found that 41 per cent of Delhi-NCR residents surveyed visited a doctor or a hospital. While 47 per cent purchased one or more medicines or devices for pollution-related ailments in the last three weeks, 33 per cent purchased cough syrup, 20 per cent purchased paracetamol and 13 per cent purchased items like inhaler or nebuliser, the survey read.

3 in 10 residents have health issues: Survey

A recent study claimed that three in 10 Delhi-NCR residents surveyed have health issues due to high level of air pollution. It found that 41% of residents surveyed visited a doctor. While 47% purchased one or more medicines or devices for pollution-related ailments in last three weeks, 33% purchased cough syrup and 20% purchased paracetamol. The survey gathered responses from over 21,000 residents of Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad.