India News | Onsite Registration for Vax at Assam Tea Gardens for 18-44 Group

Guwahati, May 29 (PTI) The Assam government on Saturday decided to facilitate COVID-19 vaccination in tea garden areas through onsite registration and appointment for the people in the 18-44 age group who do not have access to smartphones.

A Standard Operating Procedures issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department stated that COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs) would be created separately for onsite registration and appointment with sessions to be scheduled on separate or alternate days.

The sessions should be scheduled and planned carefully to avoid overcrowding and slots should be reserved for those who do not have access to smartphones for an appointment, it said.

There will be no onsite registration and appointment for the category in the urban areas with the exception being special category personnel recommended by the Social Welfare Department, it added.

The department also issued guidelines for facilitating COVID vaccination for those beneficiaries without identity cards as well as facilitating onsite registration in CoWin for vaccination of age group 18-44 years.

District Immunisation Officers (DIOs) can create special sessions for beneficiaries without identity cards like prisoners, old age home members, sadhus/saints, inmates in mental health institutions, beggars, those in rehabilitation centres, among others.

Meanwhile, the Congress criticised the Assam government for increasing the daily wage of tea workers by only Rs 38 to Rs 205, which is way below BJP's electoral promise of Rs 351.

Congress General Secretary in charge of Assam Jitendra Singh said in a statement that the increase in wages announced on Friday was even less than the Rs 50 increase from Rs 167 to Rs 217 as notified by the previous Sarbanand Sonowal government in February this year.

"This notification was also withdrawn and now only Rs 38 has been increased but the Congress had guaranteed an increase of Rs 365 to tea workers within six hours of forming a government, if voted to power," he said.

(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)