Washington, January 22: President Donald Trump's administration is directing that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on paid leave, and that agencies develop plans to lay them off, according to a memo Tuesday from the Office of Personnel Management. The memo follows an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government's diversity and inclusion programs that could touch on everything from anti-bias training to funding for minority farmers and homeowners. Donald Trump Administration Orders All Federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Staff To Be Put on Leave.

The memo direct agencies to place DEI office staffers on paid leave by 5 pm Wednesday and take down all public DEI-focused webpages by the same deadline. Several federal departments had removed the webpages even before the memorandum. By Thursday, federal agencies are directed to compile a list of federal DEI offices and workers as of Election Day. By next Friday they are expected to develop a list to execute a “reduction-in-force action” against those federal workers.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)