Maharashtra Health Min says local authorities to decide on reopening schools and colleges

Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Tuesday said that while the Maharashtra government has permitted educational institutes to open from August 17, the decision on reopening schools and colleges will be taken by local authorities. 

"As per the Disaster Management Act, the local district authorities will take decisions on reopening schools and colleges in their respective districts," he said.

Speaking on the reopening of religious places, Tope said: "We have already instructed that no gatherings are allowed. We must wait for some time and after monitoring the situations, the decision will be taken." The Opposition in Maharashtra has been demanding that religious places should be reopened for devotees as well.

Earlier this week, Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad had announced that schools for students from classes 5-7 in rural areas from August 17,  while in cities, the government will reopen schools for classes eight to twelve abiding by COVID guidelines.

“In the rural areas where classes of standards 8th to 12th had already started, those of standards 5th to 7th will also resume. In the urban areas where no physical classes were being held, those of standards 8th to 12th will be restarted during the first phase," Gaikwad said.

Schools at Mumbai, Pune not permitted to reopen

Classes for standards seventh to twelfth are already allowed in the districts with low infection rates. Most of these districts are in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions. However, the permission is not extended to urban areas such as Mumbai and Pune because of the higher number of COVID cases there.

It must be noted that the state government had last month opened nearly 6,000 schools in rural areas for classes eight to twelve. Out of that, 5,947 schools had resumed offline classes for standards eight to twelve in rural areas that were not detecting COVID-19 cases.

Meanwhile, according to the Public Health Department of Maharashtra, 4,505 new COVID-19 cases were reported and 68 deaths were reported. On August 10, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with Maharashtra Covid Task Force to discuss various issues related to the pandemic. 

(With inputs from agency)

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