#LOCKDOWN HEROES

These friends ensure the poor don’t go hungry

Priya.Menon@timesgroup.com 30.04.2020

When the national lockdown was announced, Isaac Silvin Dass and his friends decided they had to do their bit to help society. So, 10 of them got together and pooled in their resources so that they could lend a helping hand to the needy. Every day since April 1, they have been out on the roads, serving breakfast and lunch to the poor in their locality.

“We all stay in the same area and have been friends for the past eight years. And all of us have always felt the need to give back to society,” says Dass, 24, who lives in east Tambaram and works with an IT company. “ When the lockdown began, we felt we should do something to help. We can work from home and still get paid by our companies but there are many out there who have no source of income.”

Since one of their friend’s  parents run a hotel, the group of 10 pooled in money to buy breakfast and lunch from them. “Every morning, from 7am to 9am, five of us go around Tambaram, Sanatorium, Chromepet, Sembakkam, Hasthinapuram, and Rajakilpakkam to give food to the homeless. It’s usually four idlis and a vada with chutney and sambar, pooris or pongal,” says Dass, adding that they feed about 60 people every day.

In the afternoon, the other five head out. “We serve variety rice – lemon, curd, tomato, and sambar rice with pickle,” says Mohammed Rizwan, 25. “For lunch, we feed about 80 people.”

Apart from it, the group also hands out biscuits and water bottles to cops as well as sanitation workers they spot on the road. “Every other day, we also distribute 1khg rice and 1litre oil to poor families in the area,” says Dass.

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Aarogya Setu’s ‘nod’ must for central staff

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:30.04.2020

All central government employees were on Wednesday directed to immediately download ‘Aarogya Setu’ App on their mobile phones and confirm their status as “safe” or “low-risk” before setting off for their work place.

Seeking strict adherence to the directions for improved safety of all government staffers, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) instructed all officers and staff, including outsourced personnel, to run a check on their status on the App prior to starting for office.

If their status shows them to be “moderate” or “high” risk as calculated on the basis of bluetooth proximity (“recent contact with any infected person”), they should not attend office and self-isolate for 14 days till their status becomes “safe” or “low-risk”.

A confirmation of the status of the central government staff as “safe” or “low-risk” every morning would make them safe for their respective work places, DoPT stated. The joint secretary (administration) has been asked by DoPT to ensure that directions in this regard are strictly followed in the respective ministry or department.

TN industries may reopen, but no date yet

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:30.04.2020

Indicating he favoured a staggered lockdown exit, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday said the state government would allow industries to reopen in green zones in the districts, but did not set a firm date. The cabinet will meet on May 2, a day before the nation-wide lockdown ends, and announce the details.

Industry sources, however, say they will need a few days after permissions are in place to restart operations. “A factory cannot be ready overnight. It needs preparation before staff can walk in. We are still waiting for the government nod,” an auto parts maker said. District collectors have been asked for detailed reports on the industries and activities that could be allowed to reopen in a gradual manner in their jurisdiction. “The reports should reach the government by tomorrow. A panel formed to work out exit strategy will make a presentation to the CM on Thursday, based on which the cabinet note will be put up,” a source said.

Gradual resumption in green zones: CM

The Centre has categorized green zones as places where none has tested positive for Covid-19 for 28 days. Krishnagiri is the only district in TN in the green zone as it has not seen a single positive case. However, sources in government told TOI that for purposes of industrial activity, the geographical unit to determine a green zone would be the block in rural areas and corporation or municipal zone in urban areas.

In a seven-hour video conference with collectors, the CM said, “The state government will issue orders to start the industries gradually in green zones in the districts. The collectors can take note of that order and allow all industries in the green zones.”

Palaniswami said the Covid-19 spread was under control in all districts, except densely populated Chennai. Even as the virus spread was brought under control in rural areas, and to an extent in town panchayats and municipalities, it has not been the case in municipal corporations due to the dense population.

The district collectors and Chennai corporation commissioner have been told to submit a report on guest workers. They should ensure relief reached them and healthcare was accessible. “The collectors should see that farmers get access to equipment and inputs, besides movement of produce to the markets,” Palaniswami said.

On the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme front, the CM said workers should be divided into groups of 50. They should be given masks. Those above 55 years should be excluded and instead, a member of his or her family could be included.

Police should intensify surveillance in containment areas and prevent people hitting the streets unnecessarily and also monitor inter-state borders strictly.

Engg colleges expect up to 20% dropout due to job loss

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:30.04.2020

Engineering colleges are expecting up to 20% dropout post Covid-19 lockdown due to job losses, salary cuts and economic crisis. They also expect the coming admission season to be tougher as many students may not able to afford higher education.

While top colleges are thinking of offering scholarships to some students, others say they cannot afford to even pay their staff after the lockdown ends. Consortium of private colleges want the government either to provide interestfree education loan to students or soft loans to colleges to stay afloat.

Chairmen of professional colleges in Tamil Nadu held a meeting with BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao through video conference recently. “Colleges expressed concern that there will be 20% dropout of students post-lockdown due to job loss and salary cuts. Many students may not be in a position to pay the fees and continue their education,” said Maluk Mohamad, chairman of MAM College of Engineering and Techology in Trichy, who also took part in the meeting.

The colleges also highlighted that new admissions would be challenging due to affordability. “We urged the government to pitch in and ensure that students are offered interest-free loans or financial aid to continue their education,” he added.

A student may have to spend up to ₹1lakh a year to pursue engineering in any college. This includes tuition fee, accommodation and transport. This may not be possible for many due to job loss and pay cut across sectors.

“If the government pays SC/ST scholarship and other dues, we may be able to sustain and help students. Rural colleges are going to be worst affected as many students hail from the lower middle class,” a trustee from a private engineering college in Tiruvallur district said.

The top colleges are also expecting a tough admission season. “Parents may not want their kids to go long distance for higher education,” said R M Kishore, vice-chairman, RMK Engineering College.

“We plan to give more scholarships and additional time to pay the fees. If colleges reopen in September, many may not able to pay staff. If the government arranges soft loan for colleges, it would ease financial stress,” he added.

P Selvaraj, secretary of Consortium of Self-Financing Professional, Arts and Science Colleges, said professional colleges at national level are planning to approach the Centre for help. “Either the government should give loans to students to continue their education or they should give loans to colleges to save the colleges. We cannot pay staff salaries for six months without collecting fees from students,” he said. “If we ask for fees, the students may drop out. Without collecting fees, we cannot pay our staff. The government should help,” he added.

The Federation of Associations of Private Schools in Tamil Nadu urged the state government to allow them to collect fees from parents who are eligible and willing to pay fees.

WHAT NEXT? Job loss and pay cuts could make higher education less affordable for many

Neet must for admissions to minority med colleges: SC

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:30.04.2020

Holding national interest to be above a religious and linguistic minority community’s right to administer educational institutions, Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that single window National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Neet) will be mandatory for admissions to medical and dental courses offered by private unaided minority medical and dental colleges. As many as 76 petitions, including many by reputed minority medical institutions like Christian Medical College Vellore and Ludhiana, had challenged imposition of Neet claiming it violates the fundamental right of minority communities to set up educational institutions and frame procedures for admitting students.

Dismissing all petitions, a bench of Justices Arun Mishra, Vineet Saran and M R Shah said, “We hold there is no violation of the rights of unaided/aided minority to administer institutions under Articles 19(1) (g) and 30 read with Articles 25, 26 and 29(1) of the Constitution of India by prescribing of uniform examination of Neet for admissions in the graduate and postgraduate professional courses of medical as well as dental science.”

SC: Neet was necessitated because of ‘ill-reputation developed by MCI’

Terming Neet a standardisation of admission process devised in national interest, the bench said, “it does not interfere with the rights of the unaided minority institutions as it has been imposed in national interest considering the malpractices of granting illegal admission by virtually selling the seats in derogation to rights of meritorious students. The charitable activity of education became a saleable commodity and prerogative of wealthy persons and poor students were forced to get education funded from banks.”

It said, “minority and private institutions have to admit students based on merit in the permissible category, based on Neet as per procedure prescribed under the Act and Regulations.” An SC bench headed by Justice Altmas Kabir in 2013 had struck down Neet through a controversial judgement. Three years later, SC had allowed review petitions to revive Neet. But, the question remained whether the tests could be applied to unaided private medical and dental colleges set up by religious and linguistic minority communities.

Writing the 108-page judgment for the bench, Justice Mishra said Neet was necessitated because of “ill-reputation developed by MCI”. He said the system of admission still suffers from many malpractices and that national interest requires further improvement in the system to eradicate evils from the system.

“The situation is still grim and require to be dealt with firm hand and steely determination,” he said. Analysing the weight of minority community’s fundamental right to have complete autonomy in framing norms for admission under privileges conferred by Article 30 of the Constitution, the bench said, “rights to administer an institution...are not above the law and other Constitutional provisions... Professional educational institutions constitute a class by themselves.”

“Specific measures to make the administration of such institutions transparent can be imposed... Regulatory measures (Neet) are intended for proper functioning of institutions and to ensure that standard of education is maintained and does not fall low under the guise of an exclusive right of management to the extent of maladministration.”

Full report on www.toi.in

New academic session from Sept 1: UGC

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:30.04.2020

The new academic session will begin in universities from September 1and from August 1 for those already enrolled, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has said in its guidelines on examinations and academic calendar in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. The pending university exams are to be conducted in July.

The admissions for the 2020-21 session will be conducted between August 1-31, according to the guidelines issued on Wednesday. It has also been recommended that universities may adopt alternative and simplified modes and methods of examinations to complete the process in a shorter period of time like reducing the time from 3 hours to 2 hours as well as offering flexibility of both online and offline exams.

The guidelines, based on the recommendations of two expert committees, are suggestive in nature and universities can adjust as per their requirement. The UGC said if normalcy fails to return, grading of students could be composite of 50% marks on the basis of internal evaluation and 50% marks on the basis of performance in previous semester (if available).

In view of the uncertain situation, higher educational institutions have been given the freedom to adopt/ adapt and implement these guidelines by making alterations, additions or modifications to deal with any particular situations in the best interest of students, the institution and the entire education system.

No plan to drop board exams: CBSE

The pending examinations for Class X and Class XII would be conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). There is no change in the decision of conducting exams for the 29 subjects post lockdown, CBSE stated on Wednesday. This has put to rest the speculations doing the rounds that the pending Class X exams for the northeast (NE) Delhi have been cancelled. On April 1, CBSE had announced via a circular that it would conduct Board exams for 29 subjects, including six Class X subjects for the northeast Delhi, 11Class XII subjects for NE Delhi and 12 Class XII subjects for all India. In its April 1release, CBSE had clarified that it would conduct examinations for only main subjects that might be required for promotion and crucial for admissions in higher educational institutions.