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Thursday, July 23, 2026

NEWS TODAY 23.07.2026

NEET’s top two scorers: Protest is a right, reform is the answer

Manash.Gohain@timesofindia.com 23.07.2026

New Delhi : Aryan Gupta and Panshul Bansal felt the same anger and sense of injustice as lakhs of NEET-UG aspirants when the May-3 examination was cancelled after a paper leak. They believe students were within their rights to protest. But instead of joining the demonstrations, they stepped away from the noise, revitalised their will and prepared for the June 21 re-exam — a decision that took them to the top.

Both scored 715 out of 720, with Gupta securing All India Rank 1 and Bansal placed second under the tie-break rule. They now want computer-based testing (CBT), tighter security and two NEET attempts a year to help examinees avoid what they experienced this year. “Although it was unfair, it was not unfair only to me. It was unfair to everyone,” Gupta said, adding that he treated the re-test as a chance to improve his performance. He had expected around 696 marks in the first examination.

The cancellation left him “devastated and disappointed”, but he focused on what remained in his control. Bansal did the same. As reports about the leak and protests multiplied, he stopped following the news for nearly two months because it was giving him “negative thoughts”. But both defended students’ right to demonstrate. “Protest and dissent are basic rights of a citizen. They are very essential for a democracy,” Gupta said. Bansal said his job was to prepare, while it was govt’s responsibility to repair the system. Their re-examination experience was better.

Gupta said the June-21 test was conducted in a “much more secure and much better manner”, with police, an ambulance and firefighters at his centre. During the first test, invigilators kept speaking and shouting for nearly two hours. “During the second examination, decorum was maintained.”