JEE Main 2017: Utkarsh Makan emerges Jharkhand topper

Dedication and hard work helped Utkarsh Makan clinch a national ranking of 40 and become the Jharkhand topper in this year’s joint entrance examination (JEE Main) on Thursday.

Dedication and hard work helped Utkarsh Makan to clinch a national ranking of 40 and become the Jharkhand topper in this year’s joint entrance examination (JEE Main) on Thursday.

Utkarsh Makan was the Jharkhand topper in JEE Mains this year and clinched a national ranking of 40.

Son of a Dhanbad based trader, Makan scored 330 out of 360 marks in the JEE Main that the Central Board of Secondary Education conducts for entry into India’s engineering colleges.

Makan was in the temple of Vaishno Devi when he got the news. “I feel it’s a blessing of the Almighty,” he said. Makan has appeared for the Class 12 board examination from Doon Public School, Dhanbad and is waiting for the result.

Fond of playing cricket and chess, Makan used to study 12 hours a day and avoided using social media to concentrate more on studies. He wants to pursue computer science from IIT-Mumbai.

Mohit Gupta bagged a national ranking of 53 and become the second topper from Jharkhand in the examination.

He also bagged sixth position in India in the other backward class category, scoring 325 out of 360 marks in the JEE Main that the Central Board of Secondary Education conducts for entry into India’s engineering colleges.

“This is the result of my hard work and dedication. Becoming topper was never on my mind, I just worked hard to perform well in the examination,” Mohit said.

A resident of Chandil, a sub-division of Sarailkela-Kharswan district, Mohit has appeared in the Class 12 board exams from DAV Public School Bistupur. He is awaiting the school results.

After clearing the Class 10 board exams from Dayawati Modi English School, Mohit shifted to Jamshedpur, where he took up a rented room.

A Jamshedpur-based coaching centre is helping him.

Mohit is the son of a government primary school teacher. He studied around eight hours every day to qualify for the JEE Main.

He does not use a smart phone or the internet, saying these distract him.

“I still use a basic phone, though my parents insisted that I should get a smart phone. Internet is very useful but it also makes us addicted to social media, which distracts me,” said Mohit, who relaxes by playing cricket.

He is working hard work for the JEE Advanced scheduled on May 21.

“I would like to seek admission in IIT Mumbai after clearing the JEE Advanced,” he said.

Around 60,000 students had appeared for the JEE Main from Jharkhand. CBSE officials said about 14,000 students qualified for the JEE Advanced from Jharkhand.

The JEE was conducted in four Jharkhand cities — Ranchi, Dhanbad, Bokaro and Jamshedpur on April 2.

The JEE Main examination coordinator for Ranchi, MK Sinha, said more than 15,000 students appeared for the test in 2016 from the state capital, but the number declined to 13,996 this year because many wrote their papers online.