Three from Karnataka score high in NEET

Two students from Karnataka are among the top 50 rank-holders in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2019, the results of which were announced on Wednesday.

Phaneendra D K stood first in the state by securing an all-India rank of 36, while P Mahesh Anand came second with the 43rd rank. Pragya Mitra, who bagged the 20th position among the top 20 female rank-holders, secured the 99th rank.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) which released the results on Wednesday afternoon advised the candidates to access their rank cards through the official website of NTA, www.nta.ac.in.

NEET is the gateway for admission to undergraduate medical and dental admissions across the country.

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This year, a total of 1,15,931 students had registered for the test from the state, of which 1,02,735 appeared, and finally 64,982 qualified for admissions to medical and dental courses.

Compared to the pass percentage of the previous year, there is a 0.26% dip in the number of candidates who qualified from the state. During NEET 2018, 63.51% qualified, while it is 63.25% this time.

According to experts, the decrease is due to the number of candidates who skipped the test.

Data available from the NTA shows that of the total registered candidates, 13,196 were absent from the state.

“This year, as the results of second-year pre-university courses were announced much before the NEET exams, many students who had applied for the test decided not to take it, owing to their score in second year PUC. “This had an impact on the total number of those who qualified for NEET from state,” said an official from the state medical education department.

As many as 15,19,375 candidates had registered for NEET 2019, of which 14,10,755 appeared for the test. A total of 7,97,042 candidates qualified.

Among the states, Delhi topped the country with 74.92% candidates qualifying, followed by Haryana at 73.41% and Chandigarh at 73.2%.

In Kannada

This year, as many as 1,017 candidates took the test in Kannada. Since 2018, there is an option to write NEET in nine regional languages. Of the total candidates registered, 8.86% opted for regional languages.