Jharkhand allows public transport within state for JEE/NEET; hotels, lodges to reopen

The Jharkhand government has allowed reopening of hotels, lodges as well as restaurants and also given a go-ahead to public transport to ply within the state for a month till September 30 in view of the JEE-NEET examinations scheduled next month.

The relaxations under “Unlock 4” were announced in a notification issued late on Friday (August 28) night.

The Hemant Soren government also gave green signal to reopening of malls outside the containment zones with immediate effect.

As per the directive issued under Disaster Management Act by Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh, the lockdown has now been extended till September 30.

However, bars, educational institutions, cinema theatres, cultural, social and sports events and auditoriums will remain closed.

The ban on swimming pools, gyms, school-colleges, coaching, entertainment parks in the state will still remain unchanged.

Likewise, all religious places will remain closed, except Baba Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar and Basukinath temple in Dumka that were allowed to open doors for devotees in view of a Supreme Court order.

The ban on the movement of inter-state buses will remain in place.

Barring these, other activities outside the containment zones have been permitted in the state.

The state government has not said anything about the ban on salons and beauty parlors in Unlock-4.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren informed the public about the new instructions on Twitter.

झारखण्ड सरकार द्वारा 30 सितंबर तक जारी किए गए अनलॉक के निर्देश।
सभी लोगों से मेरी अपील है सरकारी नियमों का सख़्ती से पालन करें एवं मुँह पर मास्क का उपयोग अवश्य करें।
आपस में दूरी बनायें, मगर दिलों को जोड़े रखें। pic.twitter.com/QLtXpPO7bE

— Hemant Soren (घर में रहें – सुरक्षित रहें) (@HemantSorenJMM) August 28, 2020

“A number of national competitive examinations are scheduled in September which necessitates the resumption of public bus transport and also the opening of hospitality units in view of the large number of examinees and their guardians,” said the state government in a statement which was shared by Soren.

The notification underlined that all standard operating procedures (SOP) fixed by the union home ministry for public transport and hospitality units would have to be followed.

The CM made an appeal to people to strictly follow the government rules and abide by COVID protocols of wearing mask and maintaining social distance.

Soren said examinees living in containment zones would be allowed to move out to appear for the exams.

“Their admit cards will be deemed as movement permits. They will not need to take any separate permission from local authorities,” he said.

During the time of JEE-NEET, examinees who travel to and from other states will be exempted from the 14-day mandatory quarantine period, the order, signed by chief secretary Sukhdev Singh, said.

The Joint Entrance Examination (Main) for admission in the government engineering colleges and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) for admission in medical colleges will be held in September.

While NEET is scheduled to be held on September 13, JEE-Mains will be held from September 1-6.

(With inputs from agencies)