Senior IAS officer V Srinivas addressed a webinar on ‘Maintaining Mental Health: Working From Home’ organised by Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and the University of Melbourne, Australia on Thursday. While interacting in the session he pointed out that work from home has been very successful in India at all levels. He also said that this pandemic had a bad effect on every aspect of life whether it is health, economy, travel, governance, health, education etc. At the same time it has redefined the governance model in India. Now, virtual meetings and social distancing have become the new normal.
The 1989 batch officer of Rajasthan cadre is currently the Additional Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG). While addressing a session in webinar titled ‘Mental health beyond COVID-19 he said, “ We should recognise and give importance to the public administrators who have played key leadership roles during this pandemic. This has change the course of governance. Now the governance has mostly become contactless and around three-fourth officials are working from home. While others have to work in masks and gloves.” He also said that now the focus has been shifted to making decision digitally. “Seventy-five ministries have already adopted e-office. In which 57 ministries are conducting 80 per cent of work on e-office. Nearly 17 lakh e-files have been created in the central secretariat, he added.
While highlighting the importance of Mental health he said, “The work from home period was really tough and was bound to increase the stress and anxiety levels. However, we overcome it with continuous communication. Seniors officers were constantly in touch with other employees and interacted with them through video meetings. This was to ensure that no one felt alone or isolated. They were also advised to do meditation and other activities in order to reduce the stress level. All this helped them to maintain their efficiency even when they were working from home. The way Indian civil servants worked in this time can be inspiring for everyone.”
