Following HC intervention, Nagaland modifies compulsory vaccination order

The government issued a modified order on Sunday stating that until further orders, unvaccinated employees of the civil secretariat and directorates may get tested at government facilities for free; salaries of those employees will not be withheld

The Nagaland government has modified its order for compulsory vaccination of employees after the Gauhati high court stayed the controversial order.

Representational image.

The government issued a modified order on Sunday stating that until further orders, employees of the civil secretariat and directorates who have not taken a single dose of vaccine against Covid-19 and are required to produce negative test results every 15 days may get tested at government facilities for free; salaries of those employees will not be withheld.

On July 17, the Nagaland government ordered the staff of the civil secretariat and directorates to get vaccinated or produce Covid-19 negative test reports every 15 days at their own cost to attend office, failing which the government would withhold their salaries beyond July 31 and send them on unpaid forced leave.

The high court, on July 28, heard a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the government’s July 17 order and directed a stay on the order for two weeks. “Till the returnable date, fees should not be charged for testing from government employees and their salaries should not be stopped for reason of not having being vaccinated,” the court held.