Railways to allow teachers and non-teaching staff to travel in Mumbai locals

The railway board, on November 13, has permitted all teachers and non-teaching staff of schools to board suburban trains in Mumbai which are currently allowed to the people working in essential sectors.

A day before this announcement, the state government had urged the railway board to allow teachers after the Maharashtra education department made 50 per cent attendance mandatory for teachers and non-teaching staff in schools.

The state education minister Varsha Gaikwad, in a tweet on Wednesday, stated that the government has allowed teachers and other staff to travel by local trains and sent a copy of the letter to the Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR).

The letter was addressed to the General Managers of the CR and the WR by Kishore Raje Nimbalkar, Secretary, Disaster Management, Relief and Rehabilitation.

"You are requested to direct the concerned school teachers and non-teaching staff to use services of local trains in Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) with the immediate effect," stated the letter dated November 6, a copy of which was tweeted by the minister on Wednesday.

The Maharashtra School Education department recently released a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) ahead of the reopening of schools in the state from November 23. Schools will reopen only for classes IX to XII.