The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has relaxed the rules for regularisation of the absence of Central government officials who could not join duty due to travel restrictions during the lockdown.
The DoPT has issued clarifications following receipt of several queries from the employees, who had proceeded on leave with permission but could not report for duty due to non-availability of transport/flights and movement restrictions as per the Union Home Ministry orders in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The officials who were on tour and could not return to their headquarters will be deemed to have joined duty on the date of expiry of the tour period, if intimation in any form indicating difficulty in joining duty has been given to the office.
The government servants who were on leave prior to the lockdown orders from March 25 onward, and the leave ended during the lockdown period, will also be deemed to have joined duty from the date of the expiry of leave, if any intimation was given to the office. In case of leave on medical grounds, the regularisation will be subject to production of medical/fitness certificate.
A clarification has also been issued for those who had left the headquarters on the weekend prior to the lockdown, on March 20. They will be deemed to have joined on March 23, provided that they had intimated their office about the difficulty in reporting for duty.
For the officials who were on leave prior to the lockdown orders and it expired during the period, but who wanted to curtail the sanctioned leave and join duty, the curtailment may not be allowed, unless approved by the sanctioning authority only in rare cases, based on official exigency. The officials may be deemed to have joined duty after the date of expiry of leave during the lockdown.
