4 min readApr 21, 2026 01:47 PM IST
A small, dusty town in Punjab’s Mansa district, often described as a backward pocket with limited facilities, Bareta Mandi has emerged as an unlikely hub of achievement after 17-year-old Bharat Bansal topped Punjab in the JEE Main. With the results of the second attempt declared on Monday, the town had double reason to celebrate—Bharat had already clinched the state’s top rank in the first attempt as well.
Bharat scored 99.9814 percentile in the second attempt, slightly lower than the January session, where he had secured a higher percentile of 99.9976, which now stands as his final score. “He gave the second attempt to get 100 percentile, but his previous score came out to be better than this one, so now his result has been locked at 99.9976 (best of two) with which he gets 78 All India Rank and is all set to appear for JEE Advanced next month,” Bharat’s father, Pankaj, said.
Pankaj, who is a centre head at a government primary school in Harinau village in Sangrur district, said the family always believed in disciplined preparation. His wife, Anita Rani, is also a primary teacher at a government school in Bareta.
Sharing his preparation mantra, Bharat said, “Staying away from social media and following a timetable of eat, sleep, and study helps a lot in achieving success. Discipline is a must in life to rise to the ranks, and I learnt a lot and followed it religiously in the past two years as I was preparing for JEE.”
Pankaj said that his son had shown academic clarity early on. “Even in Class 10, he got 98 per cent marks and was clear that he wanted the non-medical stream,” he said, adding that Bharat took admission at Allen coaching centre, Mohali, and followed a mix of online and offline coaching.
“After Class 12 exams, he went to Mohali for complete offline coaching till the JEE Advanced exam. Earlier during Class 12, off and on, he used to visit the centre for tests and largely relied on online coaching,” he said.
A student of Greenland Dayboarding Public School, Bareta, since kindergarten, Bharat has also excelled in extracurricular activities. “He was the state winner in the U-11 Punjab school games in chess as well. He won many district-level prizes in chess. However, gradually he stopped going to play chess tournaments and focused on his studies. In his free time, he refreshes himself by playing chess and playing outdoors with his close friends. I was the one who introduced him to chess, but he defeats me easily now,” he laughed.
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Highlighting the importance of mental well-being, Bharat said, “Playing chess and breathing fresh air are great stressbusters. The brain needs fresh oxygen for better and enhanced learning.”
Pankaj shared that Bharat drew inspiration from his elder sister, who is in the final year of BTech in Computer Science at Thapar University, Patiala, and has already secured placement at Infosys. “My son’s aim is to clear JEE Advanced with flying colours as he wants to go to IIT Bombay. Computer Science is his first choice,” he said.
He added that while Bharat is eligible for admission to top NITs and IIITs based on his JEE Main score, the family’s focus remains firmly on JEE Advanced.
Emphasising the larger message, Pankaj said, “Small towns are the new address for giving big results. Bareta is no longer known for a dusty cotton and other grains mandi but for producing toppers as well.”
