The average National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) score of students from Tamil Nadu who got admitted to medical courses under the 15% all-India quota was 144.55, the Minister of State for Health, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, said on Wednesday.
With 244.24, Chandigarh recorded the highest average marks, while Mizoram scored the lowest — 99.21 marks. Only seven of the 36 States, whose details were available with the Health Ministry, scored an average of over 200 marks. They included Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The Minister was responding to a series of questions from Rajya Sabha member Tiruchi Siva of the DMK. Mr. Siva had sought details of the average marks scored by students in NEET last year; the State-wise percentage of students who passed the test in 2017-18 and 2018-19; and the syllabus used to set the question paper.
On Tuesday, in his reply to the queries, Mr. Choubey said the information the member had sought had been procured from the National Testing Agency, which conducted the test this year.
The Ministry had collected data from NEET UG 2019 candidates regarding state eligibility only for seats under the 15% all-India quota. According to Mr. Choubey the question papers for NEET UG were based on “a common syllabus notified by the board of governors in supersession of the Medical Council of India”.
The biggest improvement in terms of pass percentage was noticed in Tamil Nadu — a 10-percentage-point increase in NEET 2019 when compared to 2018. In 2018, the pass percentage was 39.56, whereas in 2019, it was 48.57, the Minister said.
