In response to worsening air quality, the Punjab government has directed that 50% of employees in provincial offices switch to remote work to help reduce smog across the province.
Punjab Director General of Environment Dr Imran Hamid issued this order, applying it to all government, semi-government, and autonomous institutions.
The notification, dispatched to department heads and secretaries, outlines a plan to halve on-site staff presence, with remaining employees required to work from home.
All inter-departmental meetings are now to be conducted online, and employees commuting to offices must carpool to decrease vehicle emissions contributing to air pollution.
The government’s guidelines extend beyond public offices. A separate directive mandates that private offices, franchises, and NGOs in four divisions—Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, and Multan—also adopt a 50% remote work model.
This rule for private sector employees will be in place from November 13 to December 31 to mitigate health risks linked to smog.
The notification attributes the rise in smog to increased emissions from vehicles, posing a health risk and elevating respiratory disease cases.
The Environment Department has called for these measures to be enacted immediately, aiming to lessen road traffic and curb pollutant levels.
In addition, the Punjab government has ordered the closure of all schools and colleges in five more divisions due to the hazardous air quality.
This directive applies to educational institutions in Sargodha, Rawalpindi, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, and Sahiwal, with schools remaining closed from November 13 to 17.
Follow ProPakistani on Google News & scroll through your favourite content faster!
Support independent journalism
If you want to join us in our mission to share independent, global journalism to the world, we’d love to have you on our side. If you can, please support us on a monthly basis. It takes less than a minute to set up, and you can rest assured that you’re making a big impact every single month in support of open, independent journalism. Thank you.
where is the notification
Try whatever u want . Won’t work . Private employees have to work . They are not allowed to work from home ..
So no mate what u say . Smog is here to stay
yes you right private offices don’t take seriously to this notification, CM panjab flee and no one here to impose laws.
How will you check and force private offices to follow this order?
Where is the provincial government? Where is the federal government?
Lol what work from home? Is your entire system online?
where is the notification HR ask
What about universities where almost every student comes on their own car/bike contributing 70% in this smog.
Measurements should be taken seriously around the province. This situation is worsening every passing day. If there’s an option of Working from home, then either private or government, the employers must relieve their employees for their wellbeing. Yes, here comes how the employees are going to take it. Either they will be abiding by it properly or they will still be roaming around and not following the smog protocols. Now this is an employee’s own mistake of prioritisation. But when it comes to taking measures for employee wellbeing, the employers (private or government) must and should provide them this relief. Yes, they can add that they will not entertain leaves until or unless there’s an emergency condition.
I have felt that amid business and profit, they have forgotten the importance of their employee’s well-being which directly impacts their business and profits.
The private factory dose not close in smog environment.The owner says that do work in factory on time.
The Punjab government worker dose not check these factors.check Manawa factory ,Bata pur.
Smog, what a joke, I assure you it can be tackled in 48 hours. How ?. The answer is simple . 1 stop the use of old tyres as fuel. 2 the retelling mills using Carbon as fuel be done away with forthwith. Are the authorities unaware ?.
What a country. All other reasons given are totally false and misleading.
Biggest cause of smog is coal power plants in india near delhi. Jb tek wo band nai hotey smog nai jaani.