In a first, two candidates attained full marks in medical entrance exam NEET, results of which were declared on Friday, October 16, 2020, according to National Testing Agency (NTA) officials.

Odisha’s Soyeb Aftab and Delhi’s Akansha Singh scored 720 out of 720 marks but Aftab has been ranked first and Singh second as per the NTA’s tie-breaking policy, the officials said. 

“Soyeb Aftab of Odisha and Akansha Singh of Delhi have both scored perfect 720 score in the NEET examination. However, as Aftab is older, he has been ranked at the top in the national ranking,” an official said.

A total of 7,71,500 candidates have qualified the exam for which over 13.66 lakh candidates had appeared. The highest number of qualifying candidates are from Tripura (88,889) followed by Maharashtra (79,974).

“The result has been declared. I congratulate all candidates who have cleared the exam and wish them good luck for future. I thank NTA for giving a new cohort of doctors this year. Exams were conducted during ‘testing’ times and the spirit of cooperative federalism was also visible. I also thank all the Chief Ministers for the same,” Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ tweeted.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) was conducted on September 13 amid strict precautions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

From this year, the admissions to MBBS course in 13 All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, will also be made through NEET following the amendment in National Medical Commission Act, 2019, passed by Parliament last year.

The test was offered in 11 languages – English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu — this year. Based on the initial report, more than 77 per cent aspirants took the test in English, around 12 per cent in Hindi and 11 per cent in other languages.

The NTA also increased the number of centres from 2,546 in 2019 to 3,862 this year to ensure crowd management and staggered entry and exit protocols. Unlike the engineering entrance (JEE), NEET-UG, the medical admission test, is a pen and paper exam and held once a year.

Source: PTI

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