Relaxing curbs added, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Monday said that social, political and entertainment events would be permitted in auditoriums and announced the opening of colleges for final year undergraduate students from December 7. Beaches including the Marina and tourist places shall be opened for the public and swimming pools would be allowed to operate for training purposes, he said listing out fresh relaxations effective December 1.

The CM said, the undergraduate final year classes for all colleges and universities including arts, science, engineering, technology, agriculture, fisheries and veterinary and hostels for them are permitted to start December 7, as well as  Classes for UG and postgraduate medical and para-medical courses shall begin the same day. Classes for the novice who enroll during the current 2020-21 academic year would, however, begin from February 1, next year, he said.

Also, exhibition centres would be allowed to function for 'business to business' purposes. Social, political and entertainment programs shall be allowed from December 1 to 31 after obtaining prior permission from authorities, he said. The number of participants for events at auditoriums should be confined to a maximum of 200 people or 50% of the total seating capacity, CM said in an official release.

Amid the BJP and DMK repeatedly trying to take out rallies ahead of Assembly elections next year, Palaniswami said a decision on allowing events in open spaces would be taken in keeping with the pace of virus spread in the coming days. Assembly elections are due during April-May 2021 in Tamil Nadu.  

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