Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank interacted with the students across the nation through a webinar to address their issues regarding the examination dates, the government said on Tuesday.

“Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi is very concerned about the well-being and academic activities of the students of the country. In view of this Ministry is taking all measures to quickly and immediately address the concerns of the students,” Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said during the interaction.

“During the interaction, Union HRD Minister announced the dates of pending entrance examinations. He informed that the NEET will be held on 26^th July 2020. He further informed that JEE MAIN will be held on 18^th, 20^th, 21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd July 2020. He added that JEE (Advance) may be held in August.

He said that the date of UGC NET 2020 and CBSE 12th Board examinations will be announced soon.

Pokhriyal asked students preparing for the entrance examination to access lectures on Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology on the official website of the National Testing Agency.

In a question relating to students belonging to village area with glitches in networks, the Minister replied that MHRD has tied up with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to air SWAYAM PRABHA channels on the DTH platforms.

Minister also said during the video conference that there will be no fee hike for NITs, IITs & IIITs for the academic year 2020-2021.

Pokhriyal informed that MHRD is planning to bridge the academic gap created due to COVID outbreak.

Regarding the concerns raised by students relating to board examinations, the Minister clarified that the Board will conduct examinations for only main subjects that will be required for promotion and may be crucial for admissions in higher educational institutions.

The Minister highlighted that the admissions to the UG and PG programmes for the session 2020-21 may be completed by 31^st August. If necessity arises, provisional admissions may also be made and relevant documents of qualifying examination may be accepted up to 30^th September.

The Academic Session 2020-21 may commence from August 1, for old students and from September 1, for fresh students, he told.