All educational institutions in West Bengal to remain closed till Apr 15
Kolkata/IBNS: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said all educational institutions in the state will remain closed till Apr 15 over the Novel Coronavirus outbreak.
Addressing a press conference at state headquarters Nabanna here, Banerjee said, "The educational institutions were announced to be closed till Mar 31. Considering the jump in the positive cases in the country, we have decided to keep all schools, colleges and universities to remain suspended till Apr 15."
The state government on Saturday had ordered the closure of all government, government-aided and private educational institutions till Mar 31.
However, the board examinations will continue as per schedule.
Banerjee also mentioned that the teachers can carry on with their administrative works from home till Apr 15.
"We are trying to take the precautions," she said adding, "We will have to work together. We should not be over-confident."
Banerjee has also urged all cinema halls and auditoriums to remain closed till Mar 31.
"There will be no harm in keeping cinema halls and auditoriums closed for now," the Chief Minister said.
The number of total cases across the country rose to 114 with Maharashtra recording the most of them followed by Kerala.
However, no positive case has yet been reported in West Bengal.
The Chief Minister said the two quarantine centres in Rajarhat, New Town are also ready. "If any positive case happens, people can be quaratined in the two centres."
Banerjee also mentioned there will be no harm in postponing the corporation and municipality elections in the state in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak.
"I don't think there will be a big problem in postponing the elections for now," she said.
The state election commission on Monday officially announced the postponement of the elections indefinitely after holding an all-party meeting here.
"We have postponed the elections for now. We are prepared to hold elections. We will review the situation and take a call after 15 days," the state election commissioner said.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.