Chennai: With various government offices resuming work from today, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation has operated 200 buses in Chennai to ferry employees to their offices.

According to MTC Managing Director Ganesan, “200 buses are being operated today for government staff. If needed, additional buses will be operated.”

From today, the Tamilnadu government will have six-day working week, including Saturdays, with 50 per cent work force to function in batches by following the alternate working system.

A Government Order (GO), issued by Chief Secretary K Shanmugam, also said necessary bus transport arrangements would be made for the government staff.

It said from 18 May onwards, in order have regular functioning by maintaining social distancing, the government offices would function with half the work force (50 per cent) in any given day and with a view to compensating the working hours already last, the six-day working week, including Saturdays as working days, would come into force.

Stating that all the governemnt offices would function with 50 per cent work force in batches, it said in the start of a week, the first batch would work for two days at a stretch on (Monday and Tuesday) and the second batch for the next two days (Wednesday and Thursday), followed by the first batch for the next two days (Friday and Saturday).

In the subsequent week, the second batch would work for the first two days (Monday and Tuesday), followed by the first batch on Wednesday and Thursday and the second batch on Friday and Saturday.

The GO said notwithstanding this alternate working system, the staff on off-duty should also attend office if called for at any point of time.

It said all Group-A Officers and all Head of Offices would attend office on all working days and a system of level-jumping in the submission of files in the reporting hierarchy would be put in place by the Head of the Department, if necessary.

All officers and staff members should always be available for official work and accessible through any electronic mode of communication, the GO said.

This working system would be applicable in all government offices from Secretariat to district, field level office, including Commissions, Boards, Corporation, Universities, Companies, Institutions, Societies etc., of the State government.