Jadavpur University has asked all its employees to attend office on all working days from Monday because of the high volume of pending work, officials said.

“All employees are asked to attend office as per normal routine, i.e, in all working days and as per duties allotted… on and from February 8. However classes and hostels will remain closed till further order,” stated a notice issued by JU registrar Snehamanju Basu on Sunday.

Officials said the volume of work was increasing because each employee was so far attending office thrice a week.

On December 28, the university had asked employees to start attending office thrice a week, ending their long absence since the start of the lockdown in March.

“We have reintroduced the normal working schedule while maintaining the safety protocols. The workload is increasing in the absence of the normal working schedule. Besides, public transport is now adequate,” said an official.

The university started distributing the hard copies of degree certificates to 4,700 recipients (undergraduate, postgraduate, MPhil and PhD taken together) on Monday. It will continue till February 22.

The university did not hold the convocation last year as a precaution against Covid-19.

“The distribution of the degree certificates across all three faculties (science, arts and engineering) is a mammoth task. The testimonials that the recipients will pres-ent before collecting their certificates will have to be verified. We need adequate staff

on all days to conduct the exercise and ensure that the recipients follow physical distancing norms,” said an official.

An official in the examination section said that since the odd semester tests would have to be held online in March, they needed more staff to finalise the digital platforms that would be used to conduct the exercise.

The higher education department had last week said examinations would have to be held on digital platforms because the pandemic situation had not improved enough for the campuses to reopen for students.

“The government offices have resumed the normal work schedule. We need staff on all days as the workload is increasing,” JU registrar Basu said.

In December, Calcutta University had issued a circular saying 70 per cent of the employees of each department would have to attend office daily from December 3.

“CU is likely to ask all its employees to attend office on all working days from February 12,” said an official of the university.