Daijiworld Media Network – Panaji

Panaji, Jul 17: Saloni Utagi has emerged as Goa's topper in the NEET-UG 2026 examination, securing an impressive 99.84 percentile and an All India Rank (AIR) of 3033, following the announcement of results by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Thursday night.

Saloni was among only 13 female candidates across India to be declared a state or Union Territory topper, highlighting her outstanding performance in this year's highly competitive medical entrance examination.

The NEET-UG 2026 re-examination was conducted on June 21 after the original test was cancelled amid allegations of a question paper leak. Nearly 20 lakh candidates appeared for the re-examination across the country.

According to the NTA, more than 11.21 lakh candidates qualified in the examination. Female candidates accounted for over 58 per cent of the successful candidates and recorded a higher qualification rate than male candidates. Around 56.8 per cent of women who appeared for the examination qualified, compared to 55.1 per cent of men.

At the national level, Aryan Gupta from Punjab and Panshul Bansal from Haryana secured the top ranks with 715 marks out of 720.

The 2026 NEET examination remained in the spotlight after the original test was cancelled over allegations of a paper leak. The controversy also triggered widespread protests across the country, while reports indicated that several NEET aspirants died by suicide in the weeks following the cancellation.