Odisha govt. closes colleges, universities from January 10

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Friday ordered the closure ofall colleges, universities, technical education institutes other than medical colleges,nursing colleges and institutions under the Health and Family Welfare department in Odisha from January 10.
An order issued by the state Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) office said the decision to close down these institutions till February 1 was taken as Odisha was passing through acritical stage of COVID-19 and it was necessary to strictly adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols to contain the spread of the infection.
All hostels in these institutions will also remain closed from January 10 and the students were advised to avoid staying in the hostels.
However, scholars, researchers and students who desire to stay in a hostel for project and research work other than academic activities, will be permitted to do so subject to an undertaking to the appropriate authorities.
The concerned department will bring out detailed guidelines in this regard.
The state government had earlier closed down all physical classes upto standard XII, given therising COVID cases.
The government, however, allowed all ongoing off-line examinations to continue by complying with COVID-appropriate behaviour.
The teaching and non-teaching employees of the colleges, universities and technical institutions will work as per prevailing guidelines for government servants and perform their duty for online classes, academic, semi-academic and administrative functions as assigned to them by the authorities.
The government also prohibited all offline classes in the coaching institutions and individuals offering coaching services to the students. These institutions, however, were allowed to continue online coaching.
The order said any person found violating the order would be punished under the provision of the Disaster Management Act 2005 and other relevant laws.