Within an hour of Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar announcing that SSLC (Class 10) exams will be held in Karnataka in MCQ format, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has said that they will be conducted only if the COVID-19 epidemic gets under control.
SSLC students and their parents need not panic over the announcement of examinations, the Chief Minister told journalists after his arrival at the Sambra airport on Friday for a half-a-day visit to Belagavi to review the COVID management efforts.
He said the State government would appoint an administrator to monitor the affairs of Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences, that has a designated COVID hospital. The hospital director,Vinay Dastikopp, has been sent on leave following complaints of negligence in COVID management. Mr. Yediyurappa drove to the Suvarna Soudha to hold a meeting of officers relating to COVID management. He also said he would take steps to ensure that sugar factories paid arrears to farmers.
The Chief Minister also visited the RSS office on Goods Shed Road to meet Sriharibhau Vajhe, senior Pracharak. The 86-year- old RSS worker has been ailing for some time due to age-related causes.
He will return to Bengaluru after holding a similar meeting on COVID management in Dharwad in the evening.