Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced free travel arrangements for all students of the state appearing for the NEET, JEE examinations.

He said that the students will be provided free travel arrangements from the block or district headquarters to the examination centre by the government.

Students interested in availing this facility will have to register themselves by calling on 181, or through the portal https/mapit.gov.in/covid-19, by August 31.

CM Chouhan made the announcement on his official Twitter handle on Sunday, saying, ''Government of Madhya Pradesh is arranging free-of-cost transport facility for students appearing in JEE/NEET exam. Arrangements will be done from Block HQ & District HQ of exam centre. Examinees can call at 181 or can apply by clicking on http://mapit.gov.in/covid-19 from August 31.''

JEE/NEET 2020 ?? ??????? ??? ???????? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ?????? ?????/???? ???????? ?? ??????? ?????? ?? ???? ?? ????? ??:????? ?????? ?? ???????? ?? ???

?? ?????? ?? ??? ?? 31 ????? ?? 181 ?? ?????? ?? ?? https/mapit.gov.in/covid-19 ?? ??????? ?? ??????? ?? ???? ???

— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) August 30, 2020

Similar announcements were made by the Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh and Odisha as well, directing officials and their party leaders to help the students appearing in the exams.

Meanwhile, union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Thursday said that the safety and future of the students was the topmost priority with regard to the conduction of the JEE and NEET amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that several steps including the increase in the number of exam centres had been taken.

The National Testing Agency (NET) is scheduled to conduct the NEET on Septemeber 13 and JEE examinations between September 1-6.

It is worth mentioning here that a total of 9.53 lakh candidates have registered for JEE-Mains, and over 15.97 lakh students have registered for NEET.

There has been quite an uproar in the country regarding NEET and JEE examinations, with opposition parties urging the Centre to scrap the examinations in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

The Supreme Court of India had earlier squashed a plea seeking the rescheduling of the examinations.