Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (IGNTU) in Madhya Pradesh has issued a circular mandating Nipah negative certificates for students who come from Kerala. In a circular issued on Thursday, September 14, proctor professor MTV Nagaraju has said that students who fail to produce a Nipah negative certificate shall not be allowed to enter the university premises.

IGNTU had scheduled open counselling for several undergraduate and postgraduate courses on Thursday and Friday. Further, the semester classes for postgraduate students will start from September 18. The university has said that the students should bring a Nipah negative certificate. The sudden circular has created panic and inconvenience among the students, who have sought the university to reconsider their decision.

The total number of Nipah cases in Kerala stands at six as of Friday morning, of which four are active cases. Two patients aged 44 and 40 had died on August 30 and September 11 respectively.  The contact list of the first five cases contains as many as 950 persons, with 213 of them in the “high-risk” category. The number of contacts is expected to go up further with the sixth case being confirmed on Friday. The health department has announced various precautionary measures and announced containment zones in Kozhikode district.