Patna, June 16: Arunika and Atulika have idolised their father Dr Abhay Prakash, the chief medical officer of Border Security Force posted in Jammu and Kashmir, since childhood. Now, the sisters will be able to follow his footsteps, as both of them have cleared the pre-medical test of the Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination (BCECE).

While Arunika is the topper in the medical entrance, her sister has clinched the 29th position. Residents of the Chandmari locality in Motihari, the sisters completed their Plus Two from Kendriya Vidyalaya in Jammu. At present, they are enjoying their summer vacation with their father in the north Indian state.

Their grandmother Shanti Devi said: “Right from their childhood, both the sisters have been voracious readers. They are very intelligent as well. They do everything together and are very close.”

The siblings will take admission in any of the six medical colleges in the state — Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH), Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital, Muzaffarpur, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, Bhagalpur, and Anugarh Narayan Medical College and Hospital, Gaya.

Not just Arunika and Atulika, girls in general trumped boys in BCECE this year. They secured the top three positions in BCECE, the results of which were declared last night.

Anil Kumar Sinha, the officer-on-special-duty, BCECE, said: “This year, the results have been better as compared to previous years.”

This year around 57,000 students took the entrance examination for engineering, medical and veterinary courses. The preliminary test was held on April 22. Based on performance in the prelims, around 14,000 students took the final examination on May 10.

Those who qualified for the engineering examination can now seek admission in six government colleges as well as some private colleges in the state.

Sinha said: “While BCECE conducts entrance examination for 1,400 engineering seats, there are 390 seats in the medical colleges.”

There 100 seats in PMCH, 90 seats in DMCH and fifty seats in each of the four other medical colleges.

Sinha also said though NMCH has 100 undergraduate seats for the MBBS course, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has allowed the admission of only 50 students in the course this year.

Sources said many students who have not performed well in the IIT-JEE or AIEEE clinched good ranks in the state joint entrance exam. The performance of the students from the state deteriorated in AIEEE this year compared to the previous years.