Coronavirus: Tripura Shuts Down all Schools & Colleges till March 31

Agartala, March 16, 2020:

Tripura Education and parliamentary affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath today announced that all the educational institutes, with effect from March 17, would remain closed until March 31 next. The step has been taken in view of the outbreak of the pandemic coronavirus that has claimed more than 6,000 lives worldwide.

Speaking on the sidelines of the BAC (Business Advisory Committee) meeting convened today, the Minister also informed us that the second stage budget has been adjourned from the BAC due to an outbreak of the pandemic.

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"The most pressing issue on our hands...and across the world...is the coronavirus. It is very important and sensitive -- it is a matter of life and death. Our Government has closed down every school and college till March 31". The Education Minister also asserted that all the education institutions -- be it Government, non-Government, or Government-aided -- shall have to abide by the rule. "The decision will be officially conveyed to all the concerned authorities by today itself” the education minister told reporters.

Regarding the forthcoming budget session scheduled to be started from March 20 next, Nath said that the second stage of budget had been adjourned from the Business Advisory Committee meeting.

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“This is the time for placing budget in almost all the states and we have adjourned the second stage of budget from BAC. Some other states like West Bengal have also done the same. Some states like Kerala and Chhattisgarh have resorted to some other sort of tactics in placing the budget”, Nath told media.

Meanwhile, a notice issued by the Tripura Government's Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar states that in addition to schools, cinema halls, gymnasiums, and swimming pools will also be shut down.

Further, it has been informed: "The Bureau of Immigration (BOI) vide letter No. 1/Comm/BoI/2020-81 dated, 11.03.2020 had advised all nationals to avoid all unessential travels abroad. Accordingly, awareness must be spread regarding minimizing, if not totally avoiding, social functions and organizing fair & festival etc".

India has recorded a total of 114 confirmed cases of coronavirus according to https://www.worldometers.info/ On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did a video call with leaders of SAARC nations to discuss the Coronavirus outbreak and steps to control the spread of the deadly disease. Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted that India made special efforts to tackle the problem while reaching out to vulnerable groups. He said that the country’s guiding mantra has been ‘prepare, but don’t panic’ in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.

Most of the cases in India are from Maharashtra, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh with 32, 22 and 12 positive cases respectively. The number of active cases in Haryana is 14.

Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir also have 3 and 2 positive cases, respectively. Meanwhile, there have been no reports of any positive case from the Northeast region. The NE States have suspended cross-border passenger trains and buses to Bangladesh as a precautionary measure. Arunachal Pradesh, which shares a large porous border with China and Myanmar, was the first to close the border

Schools, gyms, swimming pools, etc have also been shut in the Northeast states along with the national capital, West Bengal, Maharashtra and a few others.

Assam government on Sunday issued a directive to shut all schools, colleges, universities, gyms, swimming pools and movie halls till March 29 as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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