To ease the situation for students appearing for the NEET on September 12, West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee in a tweet said that the complete lockdown announced in the state will be withdrawn on Saturday to make it easier for the candidates appearing for these exams.
"Keeping their interest in mind, while keeping the statewide lockdown as it is on Sep 11th, it has been decided to cancel the lockdown on 12th, so that the students can attend the examination on 13th without any apprehensions or concerns," she tweeted.
The state government initially announced a statewide lockdown on September 11 and 12, Mamata said. However, the government received numerous requests from the student community for lifting the lockdown on September 12, the chief minister said.
This comes amid Centre's decision to hold JEE and NEET across India despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic even after widespread debates and criticism to postpone the exams.
After the JEE exam held on September 1, the West Bengal CM said nearly 75% of the candidates could not attend the entrance examination because of Covid-19 pandemic.
The state government had imposed a total lockdown on six days and on September 7, the first lockdown of the month was observed.
The Centre in its last guideline mentioned that no state would impose lockdown without consulting with the Centre. Earlier when asked after the state government announced a complete lockdown on September 7, 11, and 12, chief secretary Rajiva Sinha said, "All protocols were followed before announcing the lockdowns."
On September 4, the apex court had also dismissed the pleas seeking review of its order which had paved the way for holding NEET and JEE exams.
(With ENS inputs)
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(Inputs from PTI)