Vaccination drive of industrial workers yet to be held in Mysuru
The Hindu
It would take some more time as focus now was on college students
The proposed vaccination drive of industrial workforce in the age group of 18 to 44 years to enable smooth and unhindered production in the manufacturing units is yet to get started in Mysuru. This has been attributed to vaccine shortage and the current thrust on vaccinating college students. Though such camps have been conducted in other parts of the State including industrial areas in Bengaluru, not a single day’s camp has been conducted by the authorities in Mysuru so far. However, major industrial houses have conducted their own drive at their cost to get their workers vaccinated on their respective factory premises. But Suresh Kumar Jain, General Secretary, Mysuru Industries Association, said more than 75 per cent of the industrial units in Mysuru are categorised under MSMEs and would not have funds to get their employees vaccinated. It is different in the case of larger industries and many have conducted the drive at the company’s cost, he added.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.