Students below 18 years will now be allowed to board Mumbai's local trains

Here’s some good news from the country’s financial capital — Mumbai. School and college students who are below 18 years and not eligible for vaccination will be allowed to board local trains in the city from today, 20 October. Guidelines issued on 8 October by Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte stated that “the definition of fully vaccinated person will be, any person having a medical condition that does not allow him or her to take the vaccine, and has a certificate to that extent from a recognised doctor. Also, if a person is of age less than 18 years. (In the future, when vaccine becomes available for this age group, then this will continue for first 60 days of such availability.” The decision will be a blessing for students of junior colleges, who cannot attend class in person. The decision will also solve the problem of daily local travel of the majority of citizens of the city. As per a mid-day report, railway officials will check the students’ Aadhaar and school ID cards to verify their age while allowing them entry to stations. A railway official added, however, that tickets will only be issued at the counters and only monthly season tickets will be issued. It must be noted that colleges in Mumbai have received approval to resume offline classes from 20 October . In this regard, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has given a go-ahead and has even issued guidelines for all Colleges, taking into account the COVID-19 safety protocols. On 15 August, the Maharashtra government had allowed Mumbai local train services for those who had taken both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The government had announced that the passenger would be issued a monthly pass. It was also mentioned that government as well as semi-government staff, and also those associated with essential services, will be permitted to travel by suburban trains irrespective of their Covid vaccination status. With inputs from agencies