A day after the Central government issued an advisory to states to reschedule the working hours for workers and labourers across sectors to mitigate the impact of ensuing heat wave conditions, Haryana chief secretary Sanjeev Kaushal on Wednesday said there will be no change in working hours for government employees.
This was decided at a meeting called by Kaushal of senior officers of power, health, public health engineering, labour and revenue departments for management and mitigation of the adverse effects of extreme weather conditions predicted by Indian Meteorological Department.
An official spokesperson said in the meeting by the officers of power utilities informed there will be no shortage of power and adequate arrangements have been made to meet the growing demand of power this summer.
“The officers divulged the details of adequate availability of water for drinking and irrigation purposes. Hence, the chief secretary decided that there will be no change of rescheduling of working hours for government employees,” the spokesperson said.
Kaushal directed the officers to urge the farmers to provide water and shade to their livestock and avoid working them during the hottest parts of the day. He asked the officers to launch an awareness campaign to educate people about the risks of heatwaves and the importance of taking necessary precautions.
The chief secretary directed the health department to ensure adequate quantities of ORS packs, essential medicines, IV fluids, ice – packs, and equipment to support the management of volume depletion and electrolyte imbalance etc.
Kaushal also directed them to ensure sufficient availability of cooling appliances and their functioning. He asked the Health department to equip ambulances with ice packs and cold water for early management of heat-related illness cases.
The chief secretary said that cases with suspected heat stroke should be rapidly assessed using standard treatment protocols. He directed the officers of the fire department to ensure precautionary measures to prevent fire incidents due to extreme weather conditions.
Kaushal asked them to ensure a fire extinguisher in every government building, private high rising building and flats. He further asked them to check the functioning of fire extinguishers.
The chief secretary directed the labour and health department to issue health advisories and plan activities from time to time to make the public especially the labourers aware about the precautions taken to safeguard against heat wave material on heat wave for vulnerable general population prepared by is available.