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Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 21: A school in the city has allegedly denied admission to a boy whose parents did not fill the religion column in the application form, prompting the Kerala education department to seek a report.

The parents, Naseem and Dhayna, had sought admission for their son to the first standard at the St Mary's school, a government-aided institution. They alleged that school authorities had claimed that registration will not be possible on the education department's 'Sampoorna' portal without filling the 'religion' column.

"We were informed by the school authorities that it was not possible to give admission to our child as we wrote 'nil' in the religion column. They claimed that if nil is mentioned, the admission process will not get registered in the school management software of the education department," Naseem said.

Sampoorna is a school management system project implemented by the Kerala education department to automate the system and process of over 15,000 schools in the state.

The parents later approached the ministry and the Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI) to get further clarification.

"The state government officials denied that there were any issues with the software and confirmed to us that the admission process was going on.

When we approached the school authorities again, they asked us to give in writing that we, the parents will take responsibility of any issues that may occur in the future," Naseem said.

The parents then decided not to enroll their son at the school due to the manner in which the issue was handled by the institution. Reacting swiftly, the state government sought a report from the DPI and the deputy director of the education department on the matter.

"We have asked the DPI and the deputy director of the education department to look into the matter and file a report as soon as possible," Education minister C Raveendranath told PTI. The parents said after the news spread, a school official called them offering admission.

"But we decided not to enroll him there due to the approach of the school authorities," he said.

Naseem runs a catering business after returning from the Gulf.

The school management in a release claimed that they sought a letter in writing from the parents to avoid trouble in the future. "When school authorities asked why the religion column was left blank, the parents said they were not interested in filling that part. The parents have that right.

But most benefits given by the government to school children are based on religion. We just wanted to ensure that the parents take the responsibility in case the student misses out any such benefits in the future," the management said.

School authorities maintained they never denied admission to any student. The parents are now looking for admission for their son in other schools in Thiruvanathapuram.

Ravindranath recently claimed in the state Assembly that over one lakh children in Kerala had left columns relating to caste and religion blank in school admission records during the 2017-18 academic year. In a written reply, he said as many as 1,24,147 children had not filled these columns while enrolling in different classes in government and government-aided schools during the period.

Abu Dhabi-based NMC Healthcare has reportedly received bids to sell its distribution unit and will soon be selling it to different parties.

The development comes over three months after NMC Healthcare’s founder and then-chairman B R Shetty stepped down amid allegations of massive fraud. 

The company, which recently laid off hundreds of workers, is offloading stake in the subsidiary as it is considered non-core and requires substantially high working capital to run the operations. In addition, this stake sale will help the company pay off some of its debt

"There are parties who have strong interest in the distribution business. NMC will be offloading the unit soon and that also to different parties," a source said.

"The company is in the process of exploring options for NMC Trading, the group's distribution business, which it has determined to be non-core and requiring substantial levels of working capital. The process should not materially adversely impact distributors' activities, nor NMC Trading's customers," an NMC Healthcare spokeswoman said.

The UK-court has appointed Alvarez & Marsal as administrator to oversee the operations of the debt-ridden hospital operator. The healthcare firm has been caught in a whirlpool of $6.6 billion debt while its senior former high management team is under investigation for financial irregularities.

The UAE Central Bank has direct local banks to freeze all bank accounts of NMC founder BR Shetty and his family members as well as accounts of those companies where he has a stake. The Central Bank move is subsequent to a criminal complaint filed by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, which has the largest exposure to NMC Healthcare, amounting Dh3 billion.

As the company faces financial difficulties, Reuters reported that NMC Health delayed May staff salaries and now expects to complete making payments by the first week of June.

The spokeswoman said: "The company has been in regular dialogue with its creditor constituencies through various creditor committees, including the direct bank lenders to its NMC Trading businesses."

Bengaluru, Apr 9: The Karnataka government is currently engaged in discussions with experts, specialists and other stakeholders to decide on its lockdown exit strategy and would take a final view by April 13, a key Minister said on Thursday.

"Day after tomorrow we have a VC (videoconference) with the Prime Minister," Medical Education Minister Sudhakar K, who is in-charge of all matters related to COVID-19, noted when asked about the States strategy.

He said a task force of specialist doctors on Wednesday submitted its report to the government, giving its recommendations.

"We are meeting lot of stakeholders of the society taking their views," the Minister said, adding, the Cabinet would also hold discussions.

"Finally, day after tomorrow, after discussing with the Prime Minister during the VC, the government will take a view on this by April 13 or so. As of now, we have not taken any view on it. We are studying all the reports," Sudhakar told PTI.

The Minister observed that the COVID-19 cases were slowly spiking in India but not multiplying the way they have in some other countries like Italy, Spain and the United States as the government had declared 21-day national lockdown early and taken other strict measures. "Let's see for one week and see."

"We need to fight this out collectively and by strictly following the quarantine methods and social distancing," Sudhakar stressed.

The Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had on Wednesday said his government was in favour of lifting lock-down in districts which remained free from COVID-19 after April 14 subject to approval from the Centre.

"If the Prime Minister suggests to States to take decision (on lock-down) based on the situation in their respective States, my position is to take a call (on roll- back) in districts free from COVID-19," he had said.

"This is to allow people to go about their business and move about within the district and not from one district to another, after April 14, after taking the approval of the Prime Minister."

According to State officials, as many as 12 districts continue to remain free from COVID-19.

The task force has recommended continuation of lockdown at "hot spots" beyond April 14.

It has suggested that schools and colleges be shut till May 31, while non-air-conditioned shops can be opened.

Also, IT/BT companies, government offices providing essential services and factories can function with 50 per cent staff, the task force said in its recommendations for 15-day period after April 14.