Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday, 19 July 2026 met Panshul Bansal of Haryana, who secured All India Rank 2 (AIR 2) in the NEET-UG 2026 examination, congratulating him on the achievement and expressing confidence in his future contribution to India's healthcare sector.

The Meeting and What Was Said

Bansal had scored 715 out of 720 marks — a score he shared with Aryan Gupta of Punjab, who secured AIR 1. Bansal was placed second based on tie-breaking criteria applied by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Pradhan shared his remarks on social media platform X, stating: 'Met Panshul Bansal from Haryana, who has secured AIR 2 in NEET UG 2026. Congratulated him on this outstanding achievement and wished him success in his career.' He added: 'His accomplishment reflects the dedication, perseverance and aspiration of India's young minds. I am confident he will contribute meaningfully to the nation's healthcare ecosystem through excellence and service.'

Background: A Re-Examination After Controversy

The NEET-UG 2026 results were declared by the NTA on Thursday. Notably, this was a re-examination — the original test conducted on 3 May was cancelled following allegations of a paper leak. The re-examination was held on 21 June. Several top scorers had reportedly said the second exam proved 'more favourable' for them, leading to a 'significant improvement' in their marks and ranks.

Scale and Participation

This year's NEET-UG was conducted on an extraordinary scale, with nearly 20 lakh candidates appearing at 5,440 centres across 551 cities in India and 14 international locations. The examination was held in 13 languages, reflecting the breadth of participation across the country.

Of the total candidates, 11.21 lakh have qualified for admission to undergraduate medical, dental, AYUSH, and allied programmes.

Women Lead, Young Aspirants Dominate

Women candidates accounted for more than 58 per cent of the qualified pool and recorded a higher qualification rate — 56.8 per cent of women who appeared cleared the test, compared to 55.1 per cent of men. The majority of top performers are aged between 17 and 19 years.

Among high scorers, 138 candidates achieved above 690 marks, with 93 per cent of them appearing in NEET for the first time — underscoring the rising calibre of first-attempt aspirants.

What Comes Next

Qualified candidates will now move toward counselling rounds for admission to medical and allied undergraduate programmes. With 11.21 lakh students in the qualified pool competing for a limited number of seats, the counselling process is expected to be intensely competitive, particularly for government medical colleges.