New Delhi, March 25 -- The government on Wednesday sent an advisory to all private security agency companies asking them to consider their staff "on duty", as a humane gesture for the next 21days of countrywide lockdown and do not cut their salaries for the period.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which will be monitoring the lockdown on a daily basis, said India is facing an "unprecedented situation arising out of COVID-19 pandemic" and the agencies are likely to be impacted in the coming days due to closure of shops, malls, and establishments.

Accepting that the pandemic has affected economic activity, MHA urged the agencies to exercise empathy with its workforce.

"This is the time for the private security industry to adopt a humane...