Coronavirus hits the highest echelons of the Union Government

With many high level officers in the government set-up testing positive for COVID-19, the government has issued an order prohibiting the presence of more than two officers in a room at any given time. What has set alarm bells ringing in New Delhi is the fact that a top-level official attached to the publicity wing, who tested positive, was in regular touch with several Union Ministers, reports Krishnanand Tripathi, Deputy News Editor of ETV Bharat.

New Delhi:A steady rise in the COVID-19 cases among the top government officials has caused concerns among the senior officials that prompted the government to issue a new set of instructions on Tuesday.

The latest order prohibits presence of more than two officers in any room at any point of time and also restricts the presence of a total 30 officers and staff, below the level of deputy secretary, in an office at a time, ETV Bharat has learnt.

The new order was issued on Tuesday when disinvestment secretary Tuhin Kant Pandey was tested positive, making him the second secretary level official in the Union government to test positive for COVID-19. Last week, defence secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and the Union government's chief spokesperson KS Dhatwalia had tested COVID-19 positive.

"Number of officials testing positive in government building is rapidly increasing day by day. There is a need for utmost precaution in protecting the officials," said an order issued by the ministry of textiles yesterday, a copy of which was reviewed by ETV Bharat.

According to a person familiar with the issue, other ministries were also in the process of issuing similar orders in a day or two.

The order also stipulates that not more than two persons should be available in any room at any point of time while also discouraging the staff who either use public transportation, including private taxis, or those who live near or adjacent to containment zones, from attending office.

The matter assumed urgency after the report of second secretary level officer, DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kant Pandey, being corona positive became public on Tuesday.

An office memorandum, which informed the DIPAM staff about the closure of the building for sanitization purpose, also confirmed that two more officials also tested positive along with the disinvestment secretary.

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What has caused alarm bells in the government circles is the fact that Tuhin Kant Pandey's case is not an isolated one. In addition to defence secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and PIB Chief KS Dhatwalia, several other senior officials tested positive in recent times, including Rita Mal, an under-secretary in the ministry of finance and Dr Narayan Rao Battu, a joint secretary in the ministry of law and justice also tested positive.

As the Principal Director General of the Union government's publicity arm, Dhatwalia used to moderate question and answer sessions in the joint Covid briefing of the ministry of health and family welfare, and the ministry of home affairs.

According to people familiar with the matter, KS Dhatwalia's driver and one more staff also tested positive, following which all the officials who have been closely working with him have self-quarantined themselves.

However, what is ringing alarm bells among the top officers is the fact that as the head of Union government's publicity wing, KS Dhatwalia was in regular touch with several Union ministers and other top officials of the important ministries.

KS Dhatwalia also moderated two cabinet briefings last week, on Monday (June 1) and Wednesday (June 3). He joined Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar, Transportation and MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari and Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

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On Tuesday, Mr Dhatwalia moderated another press conference of Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad which was also attended by Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Secretary Communications & IT Sanjay Dhotre.

These ministers also attended the Union cabinet meeting presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday that cleared far-reaching amendments in the Essential Services Act and also approved two ordinances, giving greater freedom to farmers to market their produce across the country.

It is not yet clear that how many union ministers and top officials have been following the self-isolation norms after Mr Dhatwalia tested positive, however, the PIB building was sealed for sanitization purpose. And the routine Cabinet meeting, which usually takes place on Wednesday, has not been convened this time.

The routine joint Covid briefing by health ministry and home ministry has also not taken place following the news of the top PIB officer being tested Corona positive became public.

It is not yet clear whether Lav Agarwal, a joint secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Punya Salia Srivastava, joint secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Raman R Gangakhedkar, chief of epidemiology and communicable disease at Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), are in self-quarantine or not. These three officers, along with KS Dhatwalia, regularly used to brief media on COVID-19 updates at National Media Centre in New Delhi, and have become the face of Union government's daily Corona briefing.

Similarly, it is not yet clear exactly how many defence ministry officials, have self-quarantined themselves, after defence secretary Dr Ajay Kumar was tested positive last week.

As the senior most civilian officer in the ministry of defence, Dr Ajay Kumar was in regular touch with defence minister Rajnath Singh, CDS General Bipin Rawat and chief of all three services.

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According to a PTI report, defence minister Rajnath Singh did not attend the office the next day, as a precautionary measure.

According to the sources, all the officials who were in close contact with Dr Ajay Kumar, have self-quarantined themselves as per the protocol, but it was not disclosed whether any top military official was among them or not.

State leaders and officials also vulnerable to COVID-19

In addition to the Union government, the highly contagious virus has also hit States.

On Wednesday, DMK MLA J Anbajhagan became the country's first legislator to fall prey to the deadly Coronavirus that has killed over 8,000 people in the country, and over 4,19,000 people worldwide.

Last week, Uttarakhand minister Satpal Maharaj, his wife Amrita Rawat and 21 members of his family, including his two sons and their wives and a one-and-a-half-years old grandson and staff were tested positive for Coronavirus, thereafter several of his cabinet colleagues including Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat had to go in for self-quarantine.

Satpal Maharaj had attended a cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on May 29 (Friday).

While Satpal Maharaj's wife Amrita Rawat tested positive on Saturday (May 30), another test conducted on other family members and staff on Sunday confirmed that 20 more people including the minister, other family members were also positive, which shows how fast the Coronavirus spreads among those people who work and live in proximity.

Similarly, Coronavirus scare had hit the Gujarat government last month as Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had to go into self-quarantine following his meeting with a Congress MLA Imran Khedawala who later tested positive.

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