Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said that the Central and Western Railways will support students appearing for NEET and JEE exams. The minister said that the Railways will allow students and their guardians to travel by special suburban train services in Mumbai on exam days. The minister also requested the general populace not to use the same for transportation.

According to the press release shared by the Union Minister Piyush Goyal on his Twitter account, students appearing for the exams can use their admit cards as authority to enter suburban stations along with their companions. Station and security officials present at the scene have been requested to allow students on exam dates. The railways also said that additional booking counters will be opened at important railway stations for the convenience of students and their guardians.

Travellers have also been requested to adhere to strict social distancing protocols and also follow other medical protocols such as wearing masks at all times and using sanitizers.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is scheduled to be held on September 13 and the engineering entrance exams JEE-Main will be held from September 1-6.

While around 8.58 lakh candidates have registered for the Joint Entrance Examination(JEE)- Main, some 15.97 lakh students will appear for the NEET.

The exams were originally scheduled to be held in April and have been deferred twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown across India.