Central government employees body seeks 'work from home', online meetings

New Delhi: An association of central government employees on Wednesday asked the Centre to issue guidelines on work from home, online meetings and virtual conferencing.

The move came following a call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on cutting down avoidable expenditure due to the West Asia crisis.

"The visionary leadership of hon’ble Prime Minister and the dedicated government workforce will definitely give the fruitful results of this initiative," the Central Secretariat Service (CSS) Forum said.

The forum is a representative body of CSS officers, who form the backbone of the central secretariat's functioning.

"CSS Forum urges the #DoPT to issue comprehensive guidelines on Work From Home for Government offices, as Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi has encouraged a revival of Work From Home (WFH), online meetings, and virtual conferencing for both government and private sectors," it said in a post on X.

A balanced and structured framework can enhance productivity, employee well-being, digital governance, and support the vision of a "green secretariat", the association mentioned.

Amid the West Asia conflict, Prime Minister Modi on Sunday suggested reducing petrol and diesel consumption, using metro rail services in cities, carpooling, increased use of electric vehicles, utilising railway services for parcel movement and working from home to conserve foreign exchange.

Manjeet Singh Patel, national President of All India NPS Employees Federation, also supported the prime minister's move.

"All India NPS Employees Federation ask the government to consider measures like work from home, virtual meetings, among others, as suggested by the prime minister for the welfare and progress of our country," Patel told PTI.