Pune: About 40 per cent of candidates from Maharashtra have qualified this year in National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), the undergraduate exam for medical and dental admissions in government, aided, unaided and private medical and dental institutions.
According to experts, Maharashtra compared to other states has less passing percentage although, the State has improved its pass percentage by 10 per cent from 2013.
Around 1,82,218 candidates registered for the NEET UG exam in Maharashtra this year. 70,184 candidates qualified out of 1,77,353 candidates in the state that appeared for the exam.
Across the country, over 12.69 lakh students appeared for the exam this year, out of which 7,14,562 candidates qualified. The exam was conducted in 12 languages including English, Hindi, Telugu, Assamese, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Bengali, Kannada, Oriya, Urdu and other regional languages.
Three students from Maharashtra secured position in top 50 this year.
Krishna Agarwal from Nanded stood first in Maharashtra and seventh in All-India Rank (AIR) with 685 out of 720 marks. Agarwal’s parents are doctors. His father is a paediatrician and mother a dentist.
Atul Gunjan stood second in the state and 21st in AIR with 675 marks.
Paras Lokesh secured the third position in the state and 38th rank in AIR with 670 marks.
Kalpana Kumari from Bihar stood first in AIR with 691 out of 720 marks, followed by second and third toppers at 690 out 720 marks, Rohan Purohit from Telangana and Himanshu Sharma from Delhi. “If considered, this year’s pass percentage of candidates from Maharashtra is very low compared to other states like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan which have 50 to 52 per cent pass percentage. Compared to 2013 performance of the state, it has increased by 10 per cent,” said Durgesh Mangeshkar, founder of IITian Prashikshan.
He said lack of awareness about the competitive exam was the reason for poor performance of the state. He said students should begin preparations for NEET from Std XI. “Students enroll for crash course of 6-7 months or one-year course. But it is necessary that students start preparing for NEET-UG two years prior to the exam and simultaneously concentrate on board exams. However, students fail to do so. They lack seriousness towards this exam. Otherwise even with only state board syllabus, a candidate can achieve above 190 marks,” Mangeshkar said. Experts have speculated that this year the cut-off will drop by 10-15 marks.
Dev Jha of Jha Education Services said, “It is likely that this year the cut-off marks will reduce. Last year, the highest score was 697 marks and this year the highest marks is 691. Therefore the cut-off may decrease by a few marks as like 500 to 515 in government medical colleges only and accordingly in aided, unaided and private colleges,” said Jha.
Besides, 11 candidates were identified for using unfair practices in the examination. CBSE has notified that the results of these candidates has been cancelled or have been debarred from appearing in the medical entrance examination conducted by CBSE as per rules.
