Masked: Several ministers resume work from office today

New Delhi, Apr 13: Several union ministers were back in their offices today. While the ministries would be working with minimal staff owing to the pandemic, the government wanted to send out a message that would instil confidence in the people.

However, all ministers who returned to their offices have been donning the home made face mask. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted, 'back to working in North Block with a home made mask this morning."

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar also returned to office and was seen sporting a face mask. He held a meeting at the Shastri Bhawan.

Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju also was back at his office. Sporting a face mask, he said only senior officials and minimum staff required will be coming to office today onwards. We will follow all guidelines regarding COVID-19, he also said.

The Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and including Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah have also resumed working at their ministries today. The PM has urged that social distancing protocols be followed.

On Saturday, Modi was seen wearing a home made facemask during his meeting with the Chief Ministers via video conferencing.

The meeting revolved around the lifting of restrictions following the lockdown that would end on April 14. Apart from Modi, several Chief Ministers were also seen wearing the face mask.