Maharashtra Health Minister lauds T.N.’s spending on health sector
The Hindu
A delegation from Maharashtra is on a two-day visit to Chennai
Maharashtra’s Health Minister Rajesh Ankushrao Tope lauded Tamil Nadu’s higher spending on its health sector, the “successful” model of the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC) and the establishing of a medical college in almost every district of the State. A delegation from Maharashtra, led by the Health Minister, is on a two-day visit to Chennai. On Monday, the team visited the offices of the National Health Mission (NHM) and the TNMSC. The Minister said their visit was aimed at learning good practices of medical services in Tamil Nadu. “We are here to especially learn the successful model of TNMSC for the procurement of medicines and equipment. Streamlined methods are being adopted for the procurement, storage and distribution of drugs and equipment,” he told reporters after a meeting with Health Minister Ma. Subramanian.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.