Assam tea garden workers don't need to register for vaccines

The Assam government will do away with mandatory registration for the Covid-19 vaccine for tea garden workers.

The registration on behalf of the workers will be done by headmen of a line, manager or the officer-in-charge of vaccination. The second wave has severely affected tea estates with almost half of them recording Covid cases.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said rules are being relaxed for those not having smartphones. “In case of a tea garden, the manager can register the tea workers under one link. All these can be done from one number. Even the officer in charge of the inoculation in the area can register.”


Assam has over 850 tea estates, besides there are lakhs of small tea growers. In the organised sector, over 10 lakh people are engaged. J B Ekka, principal secretary. labour department told ET, “Around half of the tea estates are affected by Covid. There are 8500 cases, besides 59 deaths in the tea estates.” Vaccination drives in the tea estates will be intensified.

Sarma said, “Last month, we procured 5 lakh vaccines and this month we procured 7 lakh to meet the demands of our state and the northeastern region.”