Row over ex-functionary administering vaccine in Bengal
The Hindu
TMC’s outgoing mayor of the Asansol civic body Tabassum Ara allegedly seen in videos, photos giving the jab
The outgoing Deputy Mayor of the Asansol Municipal Corporation (AMC) in West Bengal landed herself in a controversy after videos and photographs showing her administering the COVID-19 vaccine went viral on social media. Tabassum Ara, former elected Trinamool Congress (TMC) functionary of the civic body in the State’s Paschim Bardhaman district, with no medical training, is allegedly seen in the videos taking the syringe from a nurse standing beside her in a vaccination camp and administering the vaccine it to a female recipient. The development triggered a strong response from the Opposition, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “The TMC’s manhandling of the lives of people knows no bounds.. A non-medical official, TMC’s Tabassum Ara, member of administrative board of AMC, chose to vaccinate the people herself, in spite of doctors and nurses being present there… Is she even medically authorised to do so?” BJP MLA from Asansol Dakshin Agnimitra Paul said on social media“Writing, in general, is a very solitary process,” says Yauvanika Chopra, Associate Director at The New India Foundation (NIF), which, earlier this year, announced the 12th edition of its NIF Book Fellowships for research and scholarship about Indian history after Independence. While authors, in general, are built for it, it can still get very lonely, says Chopra, pointing out that the fellowship’s community support is as valuable as the monetary benefits it offers. “There is a solid community of NIF fellows, trustees, language experts, jury members, all of whom are incredibly competent,” she says. “They really help make authors feel supported from manuscript to publication, so you never feel like you’re struggling through isolation.”
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.