Traders' body urges Delhi LG to reconsider 'work from home' order

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Tuesday wrote a letter to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on DDMA's ban on city businesses to work from offices and sought an appointment to discuss the issue.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which is headed by Baijal, in an order on Tuesday directed closure of all private offices, except those in exempted categories, amid rising number of COVID-19 cases.

The private offices, which were till now operating with 50 per cent workforce, have been asked to work from home.

In the letter, CAIT National Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said the DDMA directive will have adverse impact on businesses as approximately there are more than 3 lakh offices in Delhi providing employment to lakhs of people

Instead of closure, it will be appropriate if 50 per cent capacity of the employees is allowed to work maintaining mandatory social distance and observing Covid safety protocols, Khandelwal suggested in the letter.

The traders' body urged Baijal to reconsider the order.

It said the order the work from home can be only be done where the office is completely digital.

There is a large number of traders who are operating their business activities through their offices and are not on digital mode. In such cases, the work from home policy will not work, Khandelwal said.

The CAIT said last year it had urged the government to draw a work from home policy to set specific guidelines under which it can can be made an integral part of the business.

We regret to say that so far no action has been taken by the government on this suggestion. Therefore, we shall be grateful if a work from home policy is made and enforced after consulting the stakeholders, Khandelwal said.