The Jharkhand government gave further relaxation in the restrictions as Covid case load reached three-digit figures in the state.

In the meeting of the state disaster management authority chaired by chief minister Hemant Soren at the Assembly on Friday, the government decided to remove practically all restrictions imposed because of Covid pandemic in the state.

“Primary classes (Class 1-VIII) can operate in offline mode from March 7 in the seven districts of Ranchi, East Singhbhum, Deoghar, Chatra, Simdega, Seraikela and Bokaro. However, offline exams for primary level will be prohibited till March 31. Shops can now remain open till usual hours and there will be no restriction of closing down shutters at 8pm,” said health and disaster management minister Banna Gupta.

Significantly, the Jharkhand government had allowed primary classes along with other educational institutions across the state barring the seven districts due to the significant number of active Covid case load in these districts on January 31 this year. This would pave the way for primary students of these seven districts to attend offline classes after nearly 23 months.

However, schools will have to conduct online classes also and attendance of students should not be made mandatory in schools.

Permission has also been given to open parks, tourist places, swimming pools and also conduct sports meet with spectators.

The government also increased the attendance limit in outdoor meetings and functions to 500 from 200. Restaurants, bars, cinemas, shopping malls were also allowed to operate at their full capacity.

However, prohibition on fair, procession, exhibition will continue.

All government and private offices were allowed to operate with 100 per cent attendance. The government also allowed opening of anganwadi centres — an integral part of the ICDS project in rural areas.

The active Covid case load in Jharkhand nosedived to 553 on Thursday with the state adding only 62 cases on Thursday. The growth rate of Jharkhand is only 0.01 per cent (lower than the national average of 0.03 per cent) and the recovery rate is 98.64 per cent higher than the national average of 98.40 percent.

The decision to allow primary classes in the seven districts was welcomed by the Private School and Children Welfare Association (PASWA). PASWA state chief Alok Dubey said that the decision will pave the way for students of all the districts now to attend offline classes after a long span of nearly two years and benefit especially those poor children who do not have smartphones and were deprived of online classes.

The PASWA members asked all the schools to ensure that eligible students are given their vaccination at the earliest and also make extra efforts to make up for the loss of academics during the Covid restrictions.