Tribune News Service
Shimla, November 8
The Himachal Government today decided to open schools for the students of Class III to VII from November 10 and for the students of Class I and II from November 15. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur here.
The Cabinet also allowed the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses to carry passengers to full capacity instead of 50 per cent, as per the Covid safety guidelines.
The government had opened all schools for Class VIII to XII, but junior classes were not resumed eversince the outbreak of Covid pandemic last year. Initially, the students of Class IX to XII were called to schools for three days a week alternatively but later they were asked to attend classes regularly.
There was delay in opening junior classes as a large number of senior schoolchildren as well as teachers had tested Covid positive, resulting in containment zones being declared and many schools being closed. In fact, the government had declared one-week Diwali holidays in all schools from November 1 to 7 to break the chain of transmission.
At present, there are 1,216 active cases in the state and the fatality figure stands at 3,762. There has been a decline in the number of new cases but the fatality figure still remains high. However, the number of daily cases has declined to below 100 in the past one week, prompting the government to open schools.
The Cabinet also approved the resumption of the Janmanch programme from November 21 to address public grievances in different parts of the state. It reviewed the progress made on the Swarnim Drishti Patra (Vision Document) of the BJP, which the government had adopted as a policy document. The General Administration Department (GAD) made a detailed presentation in this regard at the meeting.
The Cabinet also gave approval to enhancing the stipend of the PG-MDS students of Himachal Pradesh Government Dental College, Shimla, by Rs 5,000 per month from April 1, 2021. Now, the MDS students of first year would get Rs 40,000 instead of Rs 35,000, second year students Rs 45,000 instead of Rs 40,000 and the third year students would get a Rs 50,000 stipend per month instead of Rs 45,000.
It gave nod to the inclusion and addition of more items in the existing schedule of the Himachal Pradesh Agricultural and Horticultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2005 to achieve the growth of the diversified agriculture and allied sector in the larger interest of the farming community.
Earlier, there were 131 items in the existing schedule of the Act and now 259 items, including cereals, pulses, oil seeds, fruits, vegetables fibres, animal husbandry products and livestock, condiments and species, medicinal and aromatic plant species, flowers, potted plants and their seeds and other produces, have been included in it.
Panel formed for state university in Mandi
- The Cabinet constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to work out the modalities to set up a state university in Mandi.
- The Vice-Chancellors of the HPU, Shimla, and Cluster University, Mandi, and the Education Secretary will be the members of the committee.
- To recommend to the Governor to convene the winter session of the Vidhan Sabha at Dharamsala from December 10 to 15. There would be a total of five sittings.
