BHUBANESWAR: As many as 19,600 students from Odisha have qualified the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) 2018 conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The results were announced on Monday.Of total 12,69,922 students who appeared the medical entrance, 32,301 were from the State. However, only 279 students had appeared the test in Odia medium, the lowest among 10 regional languages.
Sameer Patro, a student of SAI International School emerged as Odisha topper by securing an All India Rank (AIR) of 30 while Aarushi Kollana of Mother’s Public School secured 50th position to become the State No 2.With 671 marks out of 720, Sameer scored 99.9975 percentile and Aarushi scored 99.9957 percentile with 665 marks. Both the students had undergone a two-year classroom coaching at Aakash Institute, Bhubaneswar.
A native of Rayagada, Sameer aims to be a doctor and serve the underprivileged in the district. But he would wait till the results of AIIMS are out.“With the NEET rank I can get into Maulana Azad Medical College at New Delhi. But I am confident of cracking the AIIMS entrance,” he said.
Son of retired professor Sanjay Kumar Patro and school teacher mother Sasmita Patro, Sameer had received a scholarship from Akash Institute after securing 42nd rank in an all India entrance conducted by the institute.
A meritorious student, he had also received a full scholarship from SAI International School for his stellar performance. “He has made the institution and the State proud,” said school chairman Bijoy Kumar Sahoo.
Similarly, Bikash Sahoo, another Mother’s Public School student, secured AIR of 80 by scoring 659 marks. As many as 135 qualifiers in the NEET 2018 are from the school.Centre Director of Aakash Institute AB Singh said the good results are an indication of untiring and determined approach of faculties.