The Chamarajanagar district administration has issued notice to 14 government employees for commuting to and from Mysuru daily despite lockdown being in place.
Taking exception to the violations, Chamarajanagar Deputy Commissioner M.R. Ravi has asked the 14 officers to explain their stance within 24 hours or face disciplinary action.
In the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, the government had directed all staff members to stay in their respective station of posting to be available at short notice in view of the medical and public health emergency.
Yet, the 14 employees were allegedly commuting daily from their respective homes in Mysuru to Chamarajanagar through Banahalli check-post.
Sources said in addition to violation of the directives it tantamouts to exposing themselves and others to the danger of contracting the virus.
This has been viewed seriously as Chamarajanagar is green zone and is among the handful of districts in Karnataka where not a single COVID-19 positive case has been reported while the adjoining Mysuru is in red zone owing to the outbreak at the Nanjangud pharma company.
With their intransigence, these employees had not only risked exposing themselves to the virus but also put others at risk, according to the authorities.
It is common for government officials posted in Chamarajanagar to commute daily to and from Mysuru during normal times. “But this is a pandemic to combat which the government is waging a protracted battle and imposed a lockdown, and that necessitated the presence of all officials in their respective station of posting,” said a senior official in the administration.
