Mumbai’s public transport crisis continued on Sunday as the strike by employees of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking entered its third day. With regular bus services largely off the roads, authorities arranged special transportation for students appearing in the NEET UG 2026 re-examination.
To ensure that students reached their examination centres without difficulty, BEST deployed 60 buses across 24 special routes and planned nearly 180 bus trips throughout the day. The special services were designed to cater to candidates appearing at 63 examination centres across Mumbai.
According to officials, direct connectivity was provided from major locations such as Kurla, Dadar, Malad and Mulund to various exam venues. The buses operated mainly during the morning hours before the examination and again in the evening after the test concluded, helping students travel safely and on time.
The arrangements came as Mumbai continued to face severe disruption due to the ongoing strike called by the BEST workers’ union. The agitation has significantly affected daily commuters, forcing many residents to depend on local trains, Metro services, taxis and autorickshaws for travel. Despite the Maharashtra government invoking the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA) and an industrial court order against the strike, the protest has continued.
To support the emergency transport plan, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) provided more than 100 buses to BEST, with 60 of them specifically reserved for NEET candidates. Officials said the move was aimed at ensuring that students did not suffer because of the ongoing labour dispute.
Union leaders have maintained that the strike will continue until the government addresses key demands, including implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations, settlement of pending dues and reforms in BEST’s operational structure. Meanwhile, civic authorities have appealed to commuters and students to cooperate as efforts continue to minimize disruption across the city.
For thousands of NEET aspirants, the special bus services provided much-needed relief on an important examination day, ensuring that transport problems did not stand in the way of their future ambitions.
