HYDERABAD: Three students, including Hyderabad boy Mrinal Kutteri, who scored a perfect 720 out of 720, were declared as the National Eligibility cum Entrance Examination (NEET) toppers this year. The National testing agency on Monday declared the results for the competitive test for admission into India’ medical and dental colleges.
The two other toppers are Tanmay Gupta from Delhi and Karthika G Nair from Maharashtra. A tie-breaking formula may be used at the counselling stage for these three candidates, said officials. Mrinal has a percentile score of 99.9998057. Also among the top 20 rankers was Khandavally Shashank, who got the 5th rank with 715 marks and a percentile score of 99.998705. Interestingly, a total of 12 students have also been ranked at the fifth position.
There were four Telangana girls among the top 20 female rankers. They are Kasa Lahari, who got the 30th rank with 710 marks and percentile score of 99.9969565. Emani Srinija secured the 38th rank with 710 marks with a percentile score of 99.9969565. Dasika Sri Niharika scored the 56th rank with 705 marks with a percentile score of 99.9931359. Pasupunoori Sharanya bagged the 60th rank with 705 marks and a percentile score of 99.9931359.
A record number of 16.14 lakh candidates had registered for the examination this year that was held on September 12 and over 95% of the registered candidates appeared for the exam. This year, the examination was also conducted at over 30% more centres as compared to last year which included two international locations including Dubai and Kuwait.
This year, the test was conducted in 13 languages with Malayalam and Punjabi being the latest additions to the list of regional languages in which NEET candidates can write their paper. A total of 21 girls — or a little over one-third — feature among the 60 top rank holders this year.