Tamil Nadu cowherd's son cracks NEET, seeks financial help to pursue MBBS course
Tamil Nadu's Jeevithkumar was one among those who cracked the National-Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2020. Jeevithkumar, son of a cowherd and a Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) worker from Theni district in Tamil Nadu, scored 664 marks out of total 720 in his second attempt of taking the examination.
A student of the Government Model Higher Secondary School at Silvarpatti, Periyakulam, in Theni district, Jeevithkumar topped the list of students from government schools in the country who have cleared NEET this year.
Jeevithkumar, in an interview with ANI, said he might not be able to pursue the medical education as the fees of even the government colleges are beyond his family's reach.
"It wasn't my aim to become a doctor, but I tried it because the exam was very hard to crack. Now I would like to pursue MBBS course, but my family wouldn't be able to pay the fees for even government colleges, let alone a private one. I want to request people to help me pursue my studies," he said.
Jeevithkumar also thanked his teachers for their guidance and help in enrolling at a coaching institute for NEET preparation. "Last year I wrote the exam only to realise how tough it was. I planned to write it again and my teachers helped me in joining a NEET coaching and this time I was able to score 664 marks which made me the national topper among government school students across the country," he added.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) had on Friday declared the results of the medical entrance exam. In a first, Odisha's Soyeb Aftab and Delhi's Akansha Singh scored full marks. However, Aftab was ranked first and Singh second as per the NTA's tie-breaking policy.
A total of 7,71,500 candidates have qualified the exam for which over 13.66 lakh candidates had appeared.
