NEET 2020: Gurkirat tops Chandigarh with AIR 15

Fond of bhangra, Gurkirat wants to study at AIIMS, Delhi, and become a neurosurgeon.

Gurkirat Singh has topped the city with All-India Rank 15 in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), results of which were declared by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Friday.

Gurkirat Singh celebrating his success with his family in Chandigarh on Friday. (HT Photo)

A student of St Peter’s School in Sector 37, Gurkirat, 18, scored 710 out of 720 in NEET.

He hails from Haryana’s Sirsa and had moved to Chandigarh after Class 10.

Gurkirat topped the score of Ishan Gupta, who was the Chandigarh topper last year with AIR 93.

Fond of bhangra, which helps him beat the stress of studies, Gurkirat wants to study at AIIMS, Delhi, and become a neurosurgeon. He credits his 14-hour study schedule behind his NEET score.

A badminton and football player, the teenager says he gave up sports in Class 11 to focus on his studies, and scored 92.6% in his Class 12 exams. His father, Vijay Singh Monga, has a government job in Sirsa and mother Ibal kaur is a science teacher. Sister Navpreet Kaur is pursuing medicine and interning at a hospital in Amritsar currently.

As many as 15,931 students had appeared for the exam in the tricity. Due to the Covid pandemic, the exam was postponed in March. Students had to wear masks and maintain social distancing, while the NTA had increased the number of exam centres to seat students at a 6-feet distance from each other.

Experts had said the paper was easier this year and higher cutoffs could be expected this time at medical colleges where students will apply based on their NEET ranks.