Assam government directs all departments to check COVID-19 vaccination of frontline government servants before releasing salary

In an order issued by Assam Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua said that, it has been observed that many frontline government servants including contractual and fixed pay, have not yet taken the COVID-19 vaccine, irrespective of their registration in COWIN portal.

“Non-vaccination of such frontline government servants may give rise to the possibility of further spread of the virus which, in turn, may endanger the lives of common citizens, especially the vulnerable groups like infant, pregnant women etc,” the Assam Chief Secretary said in his order.

The Assam Chief Secretary who is also the chairman of Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) further said in the order copy that – “In exercise of the powers, conferred under Section 22 (2) (b) and (j) of the Disaster Management Act, 200, in capacity as Chairperson, State Executive Committee of the State Disaster Management Authority, Assam, do hereby direct all departmental heads  to ascertain the vaccination status of such frontline government servants before releasing the monthly salary/remuneration from current month onwards,” Jishnu Barua said.

The Assam Chief Secretary also said that, the COVID-19 situation in the state has been reviewed and observed that, the number of COVID-19 patients and positivity rate is declining in some districts, the overall matter is still a matter of concern for which adequate containment measures are still necessary to contain spread of COVID-19 in the state.

Assam on Wednesday had reported 2728 new COVID-19 cases with the positivity rate of 1.64 percent.

(Reporting by Hemant Kumar Nath)