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Bengaluru, Jul 31: The Karnataka government on Wednesday put on hold a controversial proposal to drop certain chapters, including on Islam, Christianity, Tipu Sultan and his father Hyder Ali, from social science textbooks to reduce the 2020-21 syllabi for students in classes 1-10.

Citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruption caused to the academic calendar of the year, the government had earlier dropped the chapter on Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali from the Class 7 social science textbook, saying chapters on Tipu Sultan have been retained in the Class 6 and 10 textbooks.

The move did not go down well with the opposition, which saw certain ulterior motives behind the decision.

Apparently under sharp criticism, the Department of Public Instruction issued a new notification on Wednesday "on the directions of the Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar".

There is a delay in opening the schools during the academic year 2020-21 due to COVID-19 pandemic, said the latest order.

In this context, the order said, chapters were dropped to fit in 120 days of the academic year for classes 1 to 10 and the same was published in the department's website.

"However, on the directions of the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, the decision to drop certain chapters has been put on hold. A review will be done following which the deleted chapters will be uploaded in the website," the order read.

Earlier in the day, Mr Kumar had issued a statement, saying that the decision to truncate the syllabus has not been finalised yet. He also made it clear that his department would not remove chapters unnecessarily.

Former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah had attacked the government on the issue.

"The government, which has failed to control the spread of coronavirus, is using it as an opportunity to push its clandestine agenda of saffronising the textbooks," Siddaramaiah tweeted.

Bengaluru Jul 29: There will be a centralised system in place in Karnataka to classify asymptomatic, symptomatic and mild symptomatic persons and recommend treatment based on the severity of the cases, said Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Tuesday here.

"Various existing apps related to COVID-19 will be brought under one platform to get real-time information which will assist in strategising allocation of hospitals/beds to the needy. This will probably remove the delay in bed allocation and treatment which is being faced now. The patients will get all information in one phone call," Dr Sudhakar said.

Sudhakar spoke with a team of experts from the government and Infosys.

Referring to a company by name Step 1, which is providing such services in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, the Minister said that a similar system will be implemented in the state as well.

"This company is having a team of doctors and nurses which is guiding the people whether they need hospital treatment or home isolation after they are tested positive for COVID-19. More than 70 per cent of the positive cases are being asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and are advised to go for home isolation," the minister said.

"The load on the hospitals is reduced and severe cases can be administered proper treatment. Infosys co-ordinates with the government to provide technical support for this system," Dr Sudhakar added.

Earlier during the day, the minister held a video conference with the heads of private medical colleges to review COVID preparedness.
The government has already passed guidelines to allocate 50 per cent of hospital beds for COVID patients.