Tamil Nadu seeks at least 2,500 more MBBS seats

TNN | Updated: Aug 18, 2017, 11:57 PM IST

Chennai: A day after the Supreme Court asked Tamil Nadu government and Medical Council of India to have a "balanced situation" keeping in mind the interests of high scorers in both NEET and state board for medical admissions, state officials are working on various options such as increasing the number of seats in government medical colleges by nearly 50%.

On Friday, the state has told the MCI that it may have to create more than 2,500 seats to help affected students get a medical seat. "Increase in seats will be the only way to minimise loss of seats suffered by students from both sides," said a senior health department official. While nearly 850 students have scored high marks in both NEET and Class 12 examinations, a large chunk of students would be affected if the state adopted either of the two options for MBBS/BDS admissions.

Creation of over 2,500 supernumerary seats will help authorities to accommodate students who would lose their MBBS/BDS seats despite scoring high marks in NEET or board examinations. If the state does admissions based on NEET alone, then students who scored high marks in board examinations alone, would get edged out. Similarly, if the state is allowed to do admission based on Class 12 marks alone, then high scorers in NEET students would lose their opportunity to study medicine. Creation of supernumerary seats will avoid this situation.

MCI officials said they were holding discussions to see if they could permit colleges to have additional seats even if it is just for this academic year. "It would mean double the intake at some colleges. We will have to see if these institutions have the infrastructure, human resources and clinical material to teach so many students. We will not be able to compromise on the quality of education," said a senior MCI official.

Doctors' bodies, including Doctors Association for Social Equality (DASE), say creation of additional seats will keep meritorious students in both groups happy. "The state should look for a permanent solution instead of fixing the problem for this year alone," said DASE general secretary Dr G R Ravindranth.

LATEST COMMENT

Do not blackout my comments.At this rate Central/State Govt/MCI can give licence to open 500 medical colleges throughout India and make Medical Education similar to Egineering
colleges with no ... Read MoreGopalarathnam Krishna Prasad

Splitting available MBBS/BDS seats into 50:50 or any other percentage between NEET-qualified and non-NEET candidates too could be an option before the authorities and courts. For the record, legal experts say that the Supreme Court still has the option of rejecting all via-media suggestions and insist that the state admit students based on either Class 12 marks or NEET, like all other states.

While most states have completed one or even two rounds of counselling, Tamil Nadu had been seeking exemption from NEET. The prolonged efforts by the state government had started wearing thin, when union minister Nirmala Sitaraman earlier this week rekindled hopes by saying the Centre would consider and cooperate if Tamil Nadu government brought an Ordinance for one-year exemption. Following this, a draft Ordinance has been handed over to the Centre. Already, armed with attorney-general's nod, the law and HRD ministries cleared the Ordinance for one-year exemption. But, on Thursday, the Supreme Court suggested a 'compromised' and 'balanced' solution to the issue and ordered maintenance of status quo till August 22 when the Tamil Nadu government and MCI must unveil their suggestions.