No Janta curfew for Amazon employees in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Seemingly disrespecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Janta Curfew appeal, e-commerce giant 'Amazon’ has asked the employees of its Digital and Devices Tech Support department to come to work on Sunday in Hyderabad.

Employees said they have been asked to work despite the call for a curfew by both the central and state governments.

“We have been asked to come to work as usual tomorrow. The general manager of the company had said that business will run as usual, despite the curfew,” one of the Amazon employees told NewsMeter.

The employee noted that the company has arranged transport for the workers tomorrow. “We are around 800 employees. Some workers have been given a Work-From-Home option. But some are required to come to work tomorrow, with no explanation given,” he said.

The worker had pointed out that the company was not too keen to adopt precautionary measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. “The company has not provided masks to workers. For example, on one of the floors, which might have around 100-150 employees, the cubicles are placed at a one-meter distance, which is not enough for social distancing, as prescribed by health officials,” said the employee.

Meanwhile, the official version from Amazon is awaited.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday had called for a 24-hour Janta Curfew across the state on March 22. This announcement coincides with the 14-hour country-wide Janata Curfew called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus. On March 19, PM Modi had appealed to the people of the country to confine to their homes for 14 hours from 7 am to 9 pm on Sunday.