Assam govt frontline employees to receive salaries only if they are vaccinated

The Assam government on Wednesday directed all departmental heads to ascertain the vaccination status of frontline government employees before releasing their salaries from this month.

Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, in an order stated that it has been observed that many frontline government employees have not yet taken the Covid-19 vaccine, irrespective of their registration in the Co-WIN portal.

The order came two days after the state administration said that it is mandatory for all workers of government and private enterprises, who have taken both doses of the vaccine, to attend office.

Non-vaccination of such frontline government employees may give rise to the possibility of further spread of the virus which, in turn, may endanger the risk of common citizens, especially the vulnerable groups like infants, pregnant women and others, the order issued on Wednesday stated.

"The state health department has arranged for large scale vaccination of all eligible age groups, both on and offline, and as such all departmental heads must ascertain the vaccination status of such frontline government employees before releasing the monthly salary/remuneration from the current month," it said.

It has been observed that though the number of patients and positivity rate is declining in some districts, the overall situation is still a matter of concern for which adequate containment measures are necessary to contain the spread of the virus, the order stated.

Meanwhile, Assam crossed the daily target of vaccinating three lakh people by giving the shot to 3,31,315 beneficiaries above the age of 18 on Wednesday at 2,184 sites across the state under its enhanced "Free Vaccination for All", an official said. Kamrup Metropolitan district vaccinated the highest number of 23,360 people, followed by 22,854 in Sonitpur, 19,095 in Nagaon, 18,012 in Cachar, 16,117 in Tinsukia, 15,845 in Dibrugarh and 14,827 in Dhubri.

The campaign which began on Monday had exceeded its target on the first day by vaccinating 3,19,340 eligible beneficiaries. However, on the second day, it failed to meet the target with the inoculation of 2,41,809 people.