Karnataka to release ₹660 crore for immediate flood relief
The Hindu
CM has requested Amit Shah to depute a Central team to assess loss
The State government on Sunday announced the release of ₹660 crore to take up immediate relief work in the 13 flood-affected districts across Karnataka even as it has sought a central team to assess the damage. The announcement, by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, came after he chaired a high-level meeting of officials during which the decision was taken. “While ₹510 crore will be released immediately by the State government, we have also decided to utilise ₹150 crore from NDRF funds,” he said.Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.