West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday withdrew the state-wide lockdown on September 12 in view of the NEET 2020 examination scheduled the very next day.
Making the announcement on her official Twitter handle, Banerjee said that the West Bengal government had initially declared a statewide lockdown on Sep 11th and 12th.
"Considering the NEET 2020 examination scheduled on 13th, we have received numerous requests from the student community on lifting lockdown norms on 12th, helping ease their travel to examination centres," she said.
The CM said that keeping the interest of students in mind, the state government has decided to cancel the lockdown on 12th.
"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," Banerjee said wishing all the very best to candidates appearing for the entrance tests.
The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government had declared lockdown in the state on September 7, 11 and 12.
On Wednesday, Students' Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the CPI(M), urged the West Bengal government to withdraw the state-wide lockdown on September 12 in view of the NEET (UG) exam being held on September 13. The request was made so that the students do not face any problem while travelling to their examination centres from far-flung areas.
A large number of candidates had faced difficulty in reaching the exam centres during the JEE (Main) examination held from September 1-6.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Wednesday had dismissed a fresh batch of petitions seeking postponement of NEET (UG) exam 2020 scheduled for September 13.
