Odisha bandh: Educational institutes to remain closed on Monday

All the schools, collegesand universities across Odisha will remain closed on Mondayfor the safety of students during a six-hour statewideshutdown called by the Congress to protest against the risingfuel prices, a minister said.

The authorities of technical institutes and industrialtraining centres will also not open their premises forstudents on February 15, School and Mass Education Minister SRDash said.

''The government has decided to shut all theeducational institutes on Monday in view of the safety ofstudents during the bandh. Also, there will be no classes onFebruary 16 for Saraswati puja,'' he said.

The government also announced the closure of all theinstitutes under the higher education and skill developmentdepartments on Monday, the minister said.

After a gap of about nine months, schools acrossOdisha had on January 8 reopened their classrooms to studentswho would shortly be appearing for their board examination,amid strict adherence to COVID-19 guidelines.

The institutes also resumed physical classes forstudents of 9 and 11 standards from February 8.

Blaming both the Centre and the Odisha government forthe rising prices of petrol and diesel, state Congresspresident Niranjan Patnaik had said that the shutdown wouldbegin from 7 am and continue till 1 pm.

All the essential services, movements of patients andmarriage parties will be kept out of the purview of theshutdown, he said.

Meanwhile, the BJD government has taken a slew ofmeasures to tighten the security arrangement in and around thestate capital to avoid any untoward incident.

The government also advised its employees to reachtheir workplaces before 9.30 am on Monday, an official said.

All Odisha Bus Owners Association also announced thatthe passenger vehicles of their members will stay off theroads till 1 PM on February 15.

Patnaik alleged that both the Centre and the stategovernment are imposing unreasonable taxes on petrol anddiesel, leading to a steep rise in fuel prices.

He said prices of essential commodities have shot updue to the spiralling fuel costs.

Stating that the shutdown will be peaceful, theCongress leader appealed to the people to support their call.

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