Shram Shakti Bhawan to open on Tuesday

The Shram Shakti Bhawan building in central Delhi will remain sealed for sanitisation for one more day on Monday and will open on Tuesday, according to a source. The Shram Shakti Bhawan building was scheduled to open on Monday after following standard operating procedures under COVID-19 guidelines.

The building was sealed on last Wednesday afternoon after two labour ministry official tested COVID-19 positive. The Bhawan was closed as per standard operating procedure (SOP) on June 4 and 5 and employees of ministries housed in it were directed to work from home.

"Since the Ministry of Power in the Shram Shakti Bhawan was opened on June 5, it was decided by all the ministries housed in the building that it would remain closed for one more day on Monday and will open on Tuesday," the source said. The building houses ministries of Power, Labour and Jal Shakti.

Later last week, as many as 11 officials of Ministry of Labour and Employment were tested COVID-19 positive. The source said since a large number of employees of labour ministry were tested COVID-19 positive, the top officials of the ministries housed in the building decided to keep the Bhawan closed for thorough sanitation on Monday.

The closure of building for two days was part of standard operating procedure for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the SOP, if two or more than two employees are found COVID-19 positive then the entire building housing the ministry or department is sealed for sanitisation.

A joint secretary, a steno, a principal private secretary, a private secretary, six multi task assistants and a driver were tested COVID-19 positive in the Ministry of Labour and Employment last week..