New Delhi, Jan 3 :The Central government has suspended biometric attendance for government officials and employees with immediate effect keeping in mind the rise in Covid cases, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has announced.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jitendra Singh, said the decision was taken under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the interest of safety and health of government employees.

India on Monday registered 33,750 new Covid cases, a 22 percent jump from the previous days’ tally, according to the Health Ministry.

India also reported 123 deaths due to the virus, taking the death toll to 4,81,893.

According to the Ministry, the Omicron tally in the country rose to 1,700, of which 639 have recovered or have been discharged. Maharashtra has recorded the highest 510 cases of the new variant followed by Delhi 351, Kerala 156, Gujarat 136, Tamil Nadu 121 and Rajasthan 120.

Biometric attendance in government offices were suspended earlier as well and was resumed only in November last year when life returned to normalcy.(UNI)