BS RAWAT
The National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2020 results declared on Friday evening, saw Odisha's Soyeb Aftab and Delhi’s Akanksha Singh securing AIR 1 and AIR 2 respectively.

Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has congratulated the toppers of NEET 2020. Nishank spoke to the toppers on phone and applauded them for their great performance, the HRD Ministry said.

“I congratulate all candidates who have cleared the exam and wish them good luck for future. I thank NTA for giving a new cohort of doctors this year. Exams were conducted during 'testing' times and the spirit of cooperative federalism was also visible. I also thank all the Chief Ministers for the same," the minister said in the statement.

The NEET is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission to MBBS and BDS courses in medical and dental colleges approved by the Medical Council of India and the Dental Council of India.

According to the official statement, a total of 7,71,500 candidates have qualified the NEET UG exam for which over 13.66 lakh candidates had appeared.

The highest number of qualifying candidates are from Tripura (88,889) followed by Maharashtra (79,974), it added.