Tamil Nadu's Prabanjan J and Andhra Pradesh's Bora Varun Chakravarthi achieved a perfect score of 720 out of 720 in the entrance test.
Published Jun 14, 2023 | 3:58 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 14, 2023 | 4:11 AM
Prabanjan and Bora Varun Chakravarthi from Andhra Pradesh, obtained a score of 720 out of 720, equivalent to 99.99 percent. (Creative Commons)
Tamil Nadu’s Prabanjan J and Andhra Pradesh’s Bora Varun Chakravarthi achieved a perfect score of 720 out of 720 in the NEET-UG medical entrance exam, according to the announcement made by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on 13 June.
The NTA mentioned that the ranking would be determined based on their tie-breaking regulations.
Prabanjan and Bora Varun Chakravarthi from Andhra Pradesh obtained a score of 720 out of 720. The youngest of the two candidates will come second.
In NEET 2020, two candidates scored 720 out of 720 marks in the medical entrance exam, but held different positions on the rank list.
Delhi’s Akansha Singh scored full marks, but lost the top rank to Odisha’s Soyeb Aftab because she was younger.
This year also marked a significant milestone for aspirants from Tamil Nadu as the state had four students among the top 10, another first for it.
Kaustav Bauri ranked third, Surya Siddharth secured the sixth position, and Varun stood ninth, all making it to the top 10 from Tamil Nadu.
NEET-UG serves as the qualifying entrance exam for various courses, including Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS), Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS), Bachelor of Siddha Medicine and Surgery (BSMS), Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery (BUMS), Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS), and BSc (H) Nursing.
In Tamil Nadu, a total of 1.44 lakh students appeared for the exam, and over 78,000 students successfully cleared it, setting yet another record.
Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of qualified candidates, followed by Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
Across the country, more than 20 lakh students appeared for the examination, with a record-breaking 1,47,581 students from Tamil Nadu alone sitting for the test on 7 May. In 2022, over 8.9 lakh students qualified for NEET.
The NTA conducted the NEET-UG exam this year for 20,87,462 candidates in 4,097 centres located in 499 cities across India, including 14 cities outside the country.
Additionally, at the request of the Manipur government, the examination was held in Manipur for 8,753 candidates at 34 centres located in 11 cities on 6 June.
The exam was conducted in 13 different languages: Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.
The exam was also held outside India in cities such as Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Colombo, Doha, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, Manama, Muscat, Riyadh, Sharjah, Singapore, Dubai, and Kuwait City.
According to the NTA, seven candidates were identified for using unfair practices during the examination.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) will be responsible for conducting the counselling for 15 percent of the all-India-quota seats, deemed universities, Central Universities, seats of ESIC and AFMC, BHU, and AMU.
The country has more than 80,000 MBBS seats available in over 540 medical colleges.
The NTA has assigned all-India ranks to the candidates, and the admitting authorities will prepare merit lists based on these ranks for MBBS and BDS seats under their respective jurisdictions.
State counselling authorities will consider the candidates’ categories and domicile when creating their merit lists. The NTA does not play a role in this process.
Among the candidates, 16 individuals scored 715 out of 720 marks and were assigned All India ranks from four to 19 using the tie-breaker method.
Bora Varun Chakravarthi, one of the all-India joint toppers, also secured the top position in the OBC category. Kaustav, the third-ranked candidate, topped the SC category.
Among the top 50 candidates, 11 belonged to the OBC category, two were from the SC category, and one came from the EWS category.
Continuing the trend from previous years, there were over 1.6 lakh more female candidates than male candidates who qualified. Last year, there were 1.3 lakh more female candidates who qualified than male candidates.
The exam achieved a record attendance rate of 97.7 percent this year, surpassing last year’s 94.2 percent and 2018’s 97 percent.
With the high scores obtained by the aspirants, the range of qualifying marks increased significantly compared to 2022.
For the General and EWS categories, the qualifying marks ranged from 720 to 137, compared to 715 to 117 in 2022.
The cut-off for the OBC, SC, and ST categories increased to 136-107 from 116-93 in 2022.
Similarly, the qualifying marks range for EWS snd PwD candidates in the General category was 136-121, up from 116-105 in 2022.
The qualifying marks range for disabled candidates in the OBC and SC categories was 120-108, up from 104-93.
