Jharkhand is likely to take a decision on reopening of places of worship at a meeting of the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) to be chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday, highly placed government sources said on Tuesday.

“Covid cases have dropped in the state, so the SDMA is likely to take a call on reopening places of worship at its next meeting,” an official from the disaster management department said. “We also need to consider the effect of keeping temples closed on the livelihood of shopkeepers who are entirely dependent on worshippers for generating income,” he added.

Various religious bodies from across the state have been pressing for reopening temples citing the rapidly dwindling financial condition of small-time businessmen solely dependent on worshippers who visit temples, gurdwaras and other religious places regularly.

Last week, members of the Pahari Mandir committee and shop owners in the vicinity of the temple had jointly asked the government to reopen the place of pilgrimage.

Besides, the Opposition BJP has also been criticising the government for keeping temples closed but allowing places of entertainment resume services.

The SDMA meeting, which will also be attended by disaster management minister Banna Gupta, is also likely to come up with a decision on reopening schools for students of class 5 and above, sources from Gupta’s office said.

Schools as well as places of worship have remained mostly closed since the Covid-19 pandemic hit Jharkhand in March 2020. While online classes were arranged for students, the government tried to gradually resume in-person classes earlier this year but had to stop the process due to the second wave of Covid-19.

The state has so far reported over 3.47 lakh cases of Covid-19 and more than 98 per cent of patients have recovered. As per government data, there were 126 active cases of Covid-19 in Jharkhand as on Tuesday morning.