MANGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said the government will take a call on relaxing COVID restrictions on movement of people between the state and Kerala and Maharashtra soon after the Dasara festival.
Speaking to reporters at Mangaluru International Airport, the CM said experts are assessing the COVID situation in Kerala, Maharashtra and border districts of the state. Soon after the Dasara festival, the COVID experts meeting will be convened and a call on relaxing the restrictions on the border will be taken. The meeting will also take a decision on starting offline classes for primary schools.
To a query, the CM said the trials on vaccinating children in the age group of 2-18 years against COVID-19 are in the final stage and once approval is obtained, the government will start vaccinating them.
When his reaction was sought to BJP MLA Umanath Kotian escorting two persons accused in a ‘moral policing’ incident from the police station after their release on bail, the CM refused to give a direct reply and said, “When there is no morality, action and reaction is bound to happen.”
“It’s a sensitive matter. There are many sentiments in society. One needs to behave in a manner that will not hurt such sentiments. If such sentiments are hurt, then action and reaction is bound to happen. Apart from maintaining law and order, maintaining communal harmony is also the government’s responsibility and everybody should cooperate in doing that. Youth should behave in a manner that will not hurt the sentiments of society. This is a social issue. There should be morality. We can’t live without morality," he said.
On the coal shortage, the CM said he met the Union coal minister during his recent visit to Delhi and apprised him of the situation. The state will be in a comfortable position if it gets two more rakes of coal in addition to eight that it is getting at present and it is hopeful of getting it in 2-3 days.