Jharkhand phone cover seller clears NEET-UG 2025, says: ‘Used to study till 3am'
A young street vendor from Jharkhand's Jamshedpur has become an inspiration after scoring 549 marks in the NEET-UG 2025 exam. Rohit Kumar, who sells mobile phone covers on a cart, secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 12,484 and now hopes to gain admission to a government medical college in his home state.
In a video shared by Physics Wallah, the platform's founder and CEO Alakh Pandey met Rohit at his stall to personally congratulate him. Rohit shared that he had been a student of Physics Wallah's free 'Ummeed' batch, which supports NEET aspirants with free coaching.
Rohit's journey has been far from easy. He said his father used to work in a local vegetable market, and after completing Class 12, Rohit dropped out of college to focus on NEET preparations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked at a medical store, where he was inspired to pursue a career in medicine.
Speaking to Pandey, Rohit explained his daily routine: 'I used to work all day selling phone covers and study till 3 am. Then, I would wake up at 7 am and go back to work.' In another video, Pandey gifted him a doctor's coat in recognition of his determination and success.
This year, Mahesh Kumar from Rajasthan topped the exam, followed by Utkarsh Awadhiya from Madhya Pradesh. Avika Aggarwal from Delhi was the top-performing female candidate, finishing fifth overall. Maharashtra's Krishang Joshi and Delhi's Mrinal Kishore Jha secured the third and fourth ranks, respectively.
A total of 22.09 lakh students appeared for NEET-UG 2025, a slight dip from last year's 23.33 lakh. Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of qualifying candidates (over 1.70 lakh), followed by Maharashtra (1.25 lakh) and Rajasthan (1.19 lakh).
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