Plans to reopen public transport for movement of students in state

Ranchi: The state government on Wednesday said it is deliberating to allow limited operations of interstate and inter-district public transport in order to facilitate the movement of students who will appear for national competitive examinations such as JEE and NEET, whose dates have been slotted in September.
“Deliberations are underway to workout the modalities and feasibility of allowing limited operations in the view of examinations. However, nothing has been finalised yet,” transport secretary K Ravikumar told TOI.
“In Jharkhand, hundreds of children from neighbouring states come to appear for the exams. The children do not travel alone. If the exams are held, we will have to open hotels and switch on the transport mechanisms, which are so far shut. If anything happens to the children and their parents, the Centre will blame it on us and the other state governments,” Soren said at a meeting with Sonia Gandhi and several CMs earlier in the day.
At present, interstate and inter-district movement of public transports is banned in an effort to limit the transmission of Covid-19. However, public transport is allowed within municipal limits with operators having to adhere to the maximum intake capacity regulations which have been put in place.
While Hemant on Wednesday flagged the probable health risks if exams are conducted as scheduled, the National Testing Agency has not hinted at rescheduling the dates. JEE (advanced) exams are slotted on September 27 while NEET is scheduled for September 13.
The state bus owners’ association, which has been pressing for the resumption of bus services citing huge losses, on Wednesday also stressed that the government must contemplate on exempting pending road taxes since April as the bus owners did not have any income due to lockdown. Sources in the transport department said a proposal for road tax waiver is indeed being deliberated upon.