<span style="color: #222222;">In Assam, the Education department has notified standard operating procedure, SoP for reopening of hostels for final year students from 15th of this month in the state.<br />'' <br />'' The hostels will reopen only for the final-year students of engineering colleges, degree colleges, polytechnics and universities, and at residential schools for classes 10 and 12 of government and private schools, as well as coaching and training institutes.<br />'' <br />'' The notification said that students must submit a consent letter from their parents for availing hostel facilities. Before the reopening of hostels, Rapid Antigen tests has to be conducted for superintendents, wardens, cooks and helpers engaged in hostel management. On the other hand,  screening of every hostel border will also have to be done before they start staying in hostels.<br />''<br />''The entire hostel has to be sanitized before reopening. Students will have to report to hostels in a phased manner. They will be accommodated in dormitories in alternate beds ' keeping one bed vacant between two students by reducing the number of inmates in each dormitory to 50 percent as per the requirement stated the SOP guidelines.</span>