New Delhi (NVI): The Odisha government said there will be no lockdown or shutdown in seven cities where the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) examination will be held in the state.
The announcement of lifting shutdown in seven cities was made after Chief Secretary AK Tripathy yesterday announced that the state government will provide free transport and accommodation to students appearing in the JEE (Mains) and NEET.
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) will be conducted from August 30 to September 7 and from September 12 and September 14 respectively. Both the exams are for undergraduate medical and engineering aspirants.
At present, bi-weekly lockdown is in force in four districts Cuttack, Khurdha, Ganjam and Gajapati – and in Rourkela town to stem the spread of COVID-19 cases.
Moreover, the Odisha government released a fresh set of guidelines for smooth conduct of the examinations in the state. The office of Special Relief Commissioner released the order in addition to previous regulations.
“No lockdown or shutdown will be in force in the seven examination cities from August 30-September 7 (JEE) and from September 9-14 (NEET),” the order said.
The order also said physical distancing, personal hygiene, mask wearing etc have to be followed inside the examination centres in view of the COVID-19 pandemic adding that the district authority will ensure the implementation of these norms outside the premises.
Meanwhile, the chief secretary, as many as 37,000 candidates are likely to appear in the examination in 26 centres spread across seven different towns including Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
The state government will provide free transport and accommodation arrangement for candidates and their guardians appearing for both exams in the state, he added
Odisha logged 3,252 new coronavirus cases and 14 deaths in the last 24 hours, which have taken the state’s tally to 97,920.
-RJV
