Coronavirus Lockdown: Government Allows IT Companies to Function With 50 Percent Staff From April 20

The government has decided to give some relaxation to the IT sector by allowing it to operate with 50 percent staff. According to the guidelines, companies in the information-technology business will be permitted to operate with 50 percent staff in the offices from April 20. India has been under lockdown since March 25. In an address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the government had decided to extend the lockdown to May 3. He had mentioned that some concessions may be given to the people after April 20.

In a statement, the government said that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued guidelines to allow select activities in the country.

“Digital economy is critical to the services sector and is important for national growth. Accordingly, e-commerce operations, operations of IT and IT-enabled services, data and call centres for Government activities, and online teaching and distance learning are all permitted activities now,” the government said.

“Manufacture of IT hardware and of essential goods and packagings are also allowed,” it added.

India has been under lockdown for the past three weeks and with the upcoming relaxation, the IT sector will be looking at mitigating losses as many employees are currently working from home. However, the IT sector employers will have to be very careful in ensuring that the congregation of employees doesn't allow the spread of COVID-19 pandemic because the coronavirus can spread easily in an area where several people gather.

The spread of COVID-19 pandemic has been keeping the government in India on its toes. The country has seen close to 12,000 total cases of the disease and out of whom, 392 people have died. It has been advised by experts that lockdown is the best way to ensure that the chain of the spread of coronavirus breaks.