Tamil Nadu to reopen public beaches, final-year undergraduate classes from 7 Dec, says CM K Palaniswami

Chennai: Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Monday said social, political and entertainment events would be allowed in auditoriums and announced the opening of colleges for final year undergraduate students from 7 December. Beaches including the Marina in Chennai and tourist places shall be opened for public and swimming pools would be allowed to operate for training purposes, he said listing out fresh relaxations effective 1 December. Undergraduate final year classes for all colleges and universities including arts, science, technology, engineering, agriculture, fisheries and veterinary and hostels for them are permitted to start on 7 December, the Chief Minister said adding from the same day, classes for UG and postgraduate medical and para-medical courses shall begin. Classes for freshers who enroll during the current 2020-21 academic year would, however, begin from 1 February, next year, he said. Also, exhibition centres would be allowed to function for ‘business to business’ purposes. Social, political, and entertainment programmes shall be allowed from  1 to 31  December after obtaining prior permission from authorities, he said. The number of participants for events at auditoriums should be confined to a maximum of 200 people or 50 percent of the total seating capacity, Palaniswami said in an official release. Permission should be obtained from the police commissioner in Chennai and from district collectors in the rest of Tamil Nadu for indoor functions. Amid the BJP and DMK repeatedly trying to take out rallies ahead of Assembly elections next year, Palaniswami said a decision on allowing events in open spaces would be taken in keeping with the pace of virus spread in the coming days. Assembly elections are due during April-May 2021 in Tamil Nadu. Extending curbs till 31 December in containment zones and for international air travel in sync with the Centre’s norms, the Chief Minister appealed to the public to wear masks and maintain hygiene to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. The Standard Operating Procedures shall apply to all activities that have been allowed. Barring those from neighbouring Puducherry, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, e-registration shall continue to be applicable for people visiting Tamil Nadu from all other states.