Educational institutions in Meghalaya will remain closed till April 30:

Guwahati: The Meghalaya government on Monday said that, all educational institutions in the state will remain closed till April 30.

The Meghalaya cabinet on Monday decided that, schools and educational institutions will remain closed till April 30.

The Meghalaya cabinet has also decided to extend financial assistance to all wage earners, daily laborers and petty traders (unregistered daily wage earners) who are out of work during the COVID-19 lockdown, under the Chief Minister’s Relief against Wage Loss scheme for daily wage earners at the rate of Rs. 700 per week and the financial assistance will be transferred directly to the eligible beneficiary’s account.

Beneficiaries already registered under Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW), job cardholders under MGNREGA, muster roll workers of government departments, casual and contractual wage workers in government and semi-government departments and registered farmers under ‘PM-KISAN’ are not entitled to receive benefits under the scheme.

The cabinet also decided to resume the private transportation in the state from April 15.

In a partial relief to the people of the hill state, the Meghalaya cabinet has also decided to allow farmers to resume sowing activities with immediate effect and strict protocols to be maintained as prescribed from time to time by the health department.

Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said that, the state cabinet has decided to allow to restart the construction works (viz. road construction, etc.) and other allied developmental programs in the state-sanctioned by the government in the last financial year from April 15.

“MGNREGA activities will be allowed to resume in respective villages in the State. Wages and the material components to the tune of Rs. 534.6573 crore has been sanctioned and released to the respective Block Development Offices for payment of wages and clearing the materials bills,” Prestone Tynsong said.

He further said that, the state cabinet also decided to allow the reopening of weekly markets in rural areas from April 15, provided that strict COVID-19 protocols as prescribed by the health department are adhered to.

“All government offices will start functioning with full staff strength from April 15,” the Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister said.

The Meghalaya cabinet discussed the fate of citizens from Meghalaya both students and working citizens, numbering about 2192 individuals in total, who are staying in different parts of the country.

“Most of them had expressed their desire to come back to the State. Taking into account the safety of people in the State and the safety of the stranded citizens themselves, the Cabinet after a thorough discussion has decided to request the stranded citizens to refrain from traveling back home until the end of April 2020,” Prestone Tynsong said.

No positive case for COVID-19 has reported in Meghalaya so far.