Gandhinagar Nov 12 (IANS): Clarifying its stand on the safety and health of students, Gujarat Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama on Thursday announced that the government was not running away from its responsibilities. Chudasama said parents' consent for students studying in schools which are about to resume, was in accordance with the central governments Standard Operating Procedure(SOP).

Chudasama said on Thursday, "There is a lot of hullabaloo about parents complaining that the Gujarat government was running away from its responsibilities by asking for a written consent letter from the parents, to send their children to schools. But I want to clarify that, this consent letter requisite is not the decision by the Gujarat government, but it is according to the central government's SOP to be followed for resuming education in schools and colleges."

"So no one should misunderstand that the Gujarat government is shrugging off from its duties. We don't want to compromise anything on students safety and are very much concerned for the health of each and every one of our students in the state," added Chudasama.

The Education Minister also informed that Gujarat was not the only and the first state in the country to decide on resuming education in schools and colleges. "Seven other states, Haryana, J&K, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram and Bihar had decided to reopen schools in September. Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and UP decided to resume education in October and everywhere the education is being continued. Similarly, Andhra Pradesh decided on November 2 and Tamil Nadu has decided to continue education from November 16th. Maharashtra government has also decided to continue education on the same date as we have decided, 23rd," added Chudasama.