Imphal, Sept. 30: Nearly 1,000 employees of the health and family welfare departments in Manipur’s Senapati district are up in arms over a government order withholding their pay.

The salaries of the staff of health and family welfare offices in Senapati district have been withheld as punishment for their “poor performance” in the immunisation campaign. Senapati district deputy commissioner Prem Singh took this decision recently.

“Staff salaries of all categories of regular and contractual employees under the health and family welfare department in Senapati district will be held up owing to repeated low performances by the immunisation programme in the district. Salaries may be released only after the performance improves,” said the order, issued on September 11 by DC Prem Singh. He was not available for comment.

The employees who have been affected held a meeting yesterday. They expressed their ire over the fact that even the salaries of employees who were not involved in the immunisation campaign have been held up.

“We are not taking part in the immunisation programme, but our salaries have also been held up. This is unjust,” one of the affected doctors complained today.

The DC’s move came after a review of the progress of the immunisation campaign at a high-level meeting chaired by chief secretary Jarnail Singh recently.

The staff who took part in the campaign, however, blamed the government for their poor performance.

“The government did not supply us vaccines on time or provide us vehicles for reaching interior areas of the district. Since there are no facilities for storing vaccines in the interior villages, we have to carry the vaccines from the district headquarters. Some of use even walked over 100km across hilly terrain as there are no roads there,” one of the employees complained.

The staff have not taken any decision on whether to challenge the DC’s order in court. However, they urged him to release their salaries.