Himachal cancels class 12 board exams, extends 'Corona curfew' till June 14

SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh government Saturday cancelled the class 12 board examinations for 2020-21 and also extended the 'Corona curfew' till June 14, Education Minister Govind Singh Thakur said.

He said that the ongoing coronavirus curfew, which was to end on June 7, has now been extended till 6 am on June 14 with all the existing restrictions.

The decisions were taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur here.

The Cabinet decided to cancel 10+2 examinations for the year 2020-21 in line with the decision of Central government in this regard, he said.

He said that for calculating the awards for class 12 students, the HP Board of School Education would devise a formula taking a cue from the one being prepared by the CBSE, which had recently announced to cancel its class 12 exams due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In case some students are not satisfied with the results arrived at so, they would be allowed to appear in a special examination to be conducted once the situation is conducive for holding the exams, he added.

During the ongoing curfew in the state, shops are allowed to open from Monday to Friday between 9 am to 2 pm, while dhabas, restaurants and other eateries can operate all days till 6 pm.

It was also decided that the health department would explore more options for procuring additional vaccines directly from producers, he said.

Earlier, the state Cabinet passed a resolution mourning the demise of Narinder Bragta, HP Assembly Chief Whip and BJP MLA from Jubbal-Kotkhai constituency of Shimla district.

The cabinet lauded his contributions, particularly in the development of the horticulture sector in the state.

Two-minute silence was also observed by the cabinet as a mark of respect to the departed leader.

Nineteen more people died due to COVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh, raising the toll to 3,263, while the tally climbed to 1,94,742 with 818 fresh cases, an official said on Saturday.

According to the state health department, active coronavirus cases in the state have now reduced to 9,484.

The recovery count rose to 1,81,972 with 1,102 patients recuperating from the disease in the past 24 hours, the official said.