New Delhi, May 19 -- The emergence of Sikar as a disproportionately successful coaching hub first came to light in 2024, when 2,037 aspirants out of the total around 27,000 appearing for the NEET-UG in the Rajasthan city scored 650 marks or above out of 720, significantly higher than another coaching hub Kota. In fact, the 7.48% success rate of NEET aspirants scoring over 650 marks in Sikar, was twice as much as in Kota - both cities had almost identical number of aspirants taking the medical entrance test - where 3.93% aspirants (or 1,066 of the 27,000) scored 650 marks or above. Nationally, only 30,204 candidates - 1.3% of the 2.32 million aspirants - crossed that mark. Four exam centres in the city recorded over 10% of candidates scoring above 650 in 2024. One such centre, Tagore PG College, posted the highest percentage nationally, with over 20% of aspirants appearing at the centre scoring above 600 marks. This year, Sikar is at the centre of the ongoing probe into NEET paper leak case. To be sure, after the 2024 controversy, a seven-member reform panel headed by former Isro chief K Radhakrishnan recommended conducting exams only in government schools, colleges and other credible institutions under district administration oversight. NTA's Sikar city coordinator Narsi Ram said 102 centres were set up in 2026 for nearly 30,000 aspirants....