NEWS

The basic education department of the Uttar Pradesh government has issued a set of standard operating procedures (SOP) for schools and parents to be followed for the reopening of schools in the state.    

The state government had last week directed for the opening of schools for classes 6 to 8 from February 10, and classes 1 to 5 from March 1.

The SOPs have mentioned that parents’ consent is must for sending a child to school and that it will not be the responsibility of the school if the student contracts Covid-19.

The list of SOPs have been issued by UP’s basic education directorate and will pave way for the opening of schools for classes 1 to 8 in a phased manner.

Congress doesn’t want to ally with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) for the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections. The AIMIM, too, scoffs at the idea. And the Indian Secular Front (ISF) of Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui has made it clear that it won’t form an alliance based on conditions.

The ISF and the Congress have discussed forming a larger “secular front” to challenge the BJP and the Trinamool Congress, which are seen as the two main contenders in the upcoming elections. 

However, the dialogue appears to have hit a wall with the Congress and the AIMIM — which has been in alliance talks with the the ISF — refusing to tie up. Between the ISF and the Congress, there have also been contradictory statements about who first offered an alliance.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has criticised several BJP-ruled states over new anti-conversion laws, saying these legislations “will leave consenting adults at the mercy of state power”, but his government appeared to take a contrary stand before the Supreme Court in a December 2019 affidavit, in which it did not object to further scrutiny and prior approval by the state machinery into interfaith marriages.

The Rajasthan government supported making it mandatory for anyone wishing to change his or her religion to first inform the district collector, and then wait for an approval; endorsed that there must be a gap of at least a week between the conversion and wedding; and said that those facilitating the conversion as well as the wedding should be made responsible for making sure there no coercion is involved.

These requirements for an interfaith marriage, which have some similarities with the controversial ordinances issued recently by the Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh government against forcible conversion, are currently in force in Rajasthan through a high court order, which the state has chosen to implement and not appeal.

After the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) met Home Minister Amit Shah, urging him to restore law and order in Andhra Pradesh, ruling YSRCP MPs will also meet the home minister and also PM Narendra Modi. YSRCP MPs say they will demand a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged corruption in Chandrababu Naidu regime.

Hitting back at the opposition party in the state for complaining against the state government, the YSRCP MPs announced that they will soon meet Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Modi and seek a CBI intervention into the role of TDP national president in the vote-for-note scam.

The YSRCP MP Balasowry said, "We will submit the newspaper clippings and video recordings of how Chandrababu Naidu and other TDP leaders abused Amit Shah and PM Modi before the 2019 elections. We also have evidence of the TDP's involvement in the temple attacks."