Inside Modi govt’s virus ‘war room’ — ministers sleep over, 50 phone lines, 4 control rooms

From coordinating with states to tracking cases around the world, North Block is guiding the Covid-19 effort, with Amit Shah monitoring from his residence.

File image of North Block in New Delhi, which houses the Ministry of Home Affairs | Bloomberg

New Delhi: Fifty phone lines, multiple screens, 10-hour work shifts for top civil servants and 12-hour shifts for Ministers of State, who now sleep in their offices. This is how the Union home ministry’s office at North Block in New Delhi has been transformed into the Narendra Modi government’s ‘war room’ against the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to a source in the government, four control rooms have been set up in the building to monitor all coronavirus-related information, and everything is being monitored by Home Minister Amit Shah from his residence.

Shah has been meeting officials through video conferencing, but his entire team, including junior ministers G. Kishan Reddy and Nityanand Rai, has been positioned at North Block to work through the night.

Another source said Reddy and Rai have been on 12-hour shifts, and have taken turns sleeping in their offices at North Block.

“This is happening on rotation. While one night Mr Rai is in office, the other night, Mr Reddy is there. This is to ensure that some senior authority is present in office in case of an emergency or crisis situation,” the second source said.

“Apart from the ministers, joint secretary-level officers too are working on an eight-hour roster without any break,” the source added.

Two key teams

There is a specific team that has been assigned to collate all Covid-19-related data from the health ministry and all state health departments, while another team has been tasked with engaging with all states and union territories for any queries.

The team that deals with data compiles statistics in form of pie-charts, graphs and comparative timelines showing the spread of the coronavirus in different countries across the world, and also maps India’s position.

“It collates all data to show where India stands on the Covid-19 graph as compared to other countries in the world,” a government source said.

“It has all data on how many cases and deaths were reported in India in the first week of the pandemic, as compared to other countries like the USA, Italy and Spain. It helps us get a factual position on the progression of the coronavirus.”

On the team coordinating with states, the source said: “We receive calls from many states about their issues. Many issues that need to be resolved are state-specific. Many have doubts about procedures on how to implement the lockdown. Many have questions regarding the healthcare systems.

“We also try to solve issues between states. It is a crucial period to establish contacts between states and UTs, and we make sure we do that.”

All ministries’ functionaries under one roof

All the health advisories, notifications, standard operating procedures, guidelines on the lockdown, or any Covid-19 related information, is being dispensed from the control rooms at North Block.

Another source said representatives of all ministries — health, education, labour, skill development and others — are present in the control rooms to look into issues related to their respective ministries.

Ministers are also in constant touch with the functionaries in these control rooms, the source said.

“All senior functionaries are working tirelessly to ensure that necessary steps related to Covid-19 are taken and communicated from these control rooms,” the source said.