NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

Hotline Established, Morning Assembly Banned in Kashmir Schools

By Fayaz Wani

Srinagar, Aug 19: With the suspected Swine Flu cases on the rise in restive Kashmir, the authorities on Wednesday established a hotline and banned the morning assembly in the educational institutions.

An official spokesman said that Health and Medical Education Department has established a helpline for pandemic preparedness of HIN (Swine Flu) in Kashmir.

"All those interested to seek information related to the Swine Flu (H1N1) preparedness in the State are requested to dial toll free number 1075," he said.

Meanwhile, the Director School Education Kashmir, Shagufta Parveen Wednesday ordered all the educational institutions in Kashmir to discontinue morning prayers till further orders.

"It is just a precautionary measure to avoid viral spread. We want students to avoid crowded places. The schools have also been directed not to take students to any crowded place," she said.

The Indian health minister had coined the idea of banning the morning assembly session to prevent the spread of the Swine Flu virus.

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.