By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, October 30, 2020: In a bid to contain the expected spike in the spread of COVID-19, the Odisha government has decided to continue 50 per cent strength of employees (all staff including Group-A Officers) in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack during November, an official notification said on Friday.

The Departments/Heads of Offices in the twin cities have been authorized to decide the manner of selection of employees who will attend office, it added.

However, the essential offices/services such as Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) and Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA), Police, Fire Services, Health Services, Municipal services etc. shall function in full strength.

The Officers/staff who have been provided with VPN shall work from home, when not assigned roster duty. They must be available to attend to any office work of urgent nature, at short notice and be available on telephone at all times. Administrative Departments will decide the scale of operations in subordinate and field offices, it added.

The state government also decided to continue closure of all State Government offices throughout the State on Saturdays.