Finance Ministry to mark contractual workers as 'on duty' during lockdown; will pay them

Finance Ministry has announced that contractual workers will be paid during the lockdown period and that the employees will be marked as 'on duty'. All non-essential services have been stopped due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

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Essential services to work

The Ministry has also notified the Department of Personnel and Training regarding the maintenance of essential services in ministries and departments regarding the developments. A notification read, "Due to these measures, there is a likelihood of a number of contractual, casual and outsourced staff such as house-keeping staff, etc being required to stay home which under normal circumstances would result in deduction in their pay and wages," it said.

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has also allowed states and Union Territories to lift foodgrains for three months in advance from Food Corporation of India (FCI) for distribution through ration shops in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. In a tweet, she said, "To ensure adequate supply of foodgrains to the public and financially assist the state govts, Department of Expenditure, has agreed to the Food and Public Distribution Department's proposal that foodgrain for 3 months can be lifted by States/ UTs on credit from FCI."

At least 474 confirmed cases of the virus have been reported in India with nine reported deaths.

A total of 30 states and Union Territories have imposed complete lockdown, covering a total of 548 districts in the country to check the spread of coronavirus the government said on Monday. Six other states have put in place similar restrictions in some areas in the wake of the outbreak.

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The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday announced a suspension of all domestic flights from midnight on Tuesday to March 3. 

All passenger trains across the country have also been shut down till March 31.

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