NEWS TODAY 10.07.2026

Ex-minister cheated system to favour his med college: Arunraj

 Pushpa.Narayan@timesofindia.com 10.07.2026

Chennai : Health minister K G Arunraj has accused former law minister S Regupathy of engineering a method to evade regulatory checks and get deemed university status for some medical colleges including the one he founded — Karpaga Vinayaga Medical College.

 Regupathy denied the allegation. Arunraj’s statement comes against the backdrop of Tamil Nadu standing to lose more than 450 MBBS seats reserved under govt quota and more than 30 seats reserved for govt school students this year because of the change of the status of some medical colleges. 

Three other institutions — including one owned by a sitting DMK MLA — have since copied the playbook, “gutting the seat-sharing and social justice principles DMK claims to champion”, Arunraj said.

 In June 2023, the management of Karpaga Vinayaga, then affiliated to Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University for medical courses and Anna University for engineering, applied for an nobjection certificate (NOC), a mandatory step before seeking deemed university status.

 Neither university responded within the required 60 days. > Trust moved court, P 6 

Arunraj: Instead of challenging NOC rejection, Regupathy ensured that trust moved court against education ministry  UGC provisions allow such delays to be treated as deemed approval. But under political pressure, the medical university issued the NOC after the deadline — then withdrew it weeks later, for reasons that remain unclear, Arunraj said in an exclusive interview to T OI. 

The Karpaga Vinayaga Educational Trust then filed an online application with the UGC, seeking deemed-to be-university status under a “distinct category” for a consortium — Karpaga Vinayaga Educational Lore for Learning — spanning five institutions: engineering, dental, medical, nursing and pharmacy colleges. 

The ministry of education, acting on UGC’s advice, rejected the application because Anna University and the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University had withdrawn their NOCs. “This is where the game began,” Arunraj said. 

“Instead of challenging his own govt’s NOC rejection, he ensured the trust moved court against the ministry of education.” 

On Apr 22, 2025, the Madras high court set aside the ministry’s rejection, ruling that the NOC withdrawal was “legally ineffective and invalid.” It directed UGC to issue fresh recommendations without reference to the withdrawal and ordered the ministry to decide on merits within four weeks of receiving them. “After this win, he ensured the higher education department didn’t appeal the order,” Arunraj said. 

UGC then recommended deemed university status under the distinct category. “Distinct category institutions are meant to offer programs that conventional institutions don’t. UGC must explain how this qualified,” Arunraj said. 

On Nov 6, 2025, the ministry issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) to the trust, setting conditions to be met within three years. Less than a month later, on Dec 1, 2025, the trust submitted its compliance report. The ministry forwarded it to UGC, which informed the ministry on Mar 2, 2026, that its Standing Committee had accepted the report and recommended final approval. 

On May 20, joint secretary Purnendu Kishore Banerjee, invoking Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, signed orders approving the trust’s deemed-to-be-university status under the distinct category — subject to conditions on fund diversion, non-commercial operation, and alignment with the National Education Policy 2020. 

“While the state is weighing legal options, the damage is done,” Arunraj said. He accused Regupathy of violating state rights and principles of social justice, adding that at least three other colleges — including one owned by DMK MLA S Kathiravan — have since followed the same playbook. 1

Regupathy rejected the allegations, saying the trust applied for deemed university status only after receiving the NOC. “They gave us the NOC after the 60-day deadline. It was only after we applied that the NOC was withdrawn,” he said. The management moved the court against Centre’s decision to deny deemed university status to the college, he said. He also denied blocking the state from appealing the high court order. 

“Files from medical admissions or university never reached me. The decision to appeal rests with the public prosecutor, and permission is sanctioned by the law secretary. I had no role in it,” he said. 

On Thursday, the university said it had failed to respond within 60 days to NOC applications from St Peter’s Medical College, Tagore Medical College, Madha Medical College and Velammal Medical College, along with several dental and allied health sciences institutions. It has since issued an order explaining why it will withhold NOC approval, laying out the facts, reasoning and legal basis for the decision. 

SERIOUS CHARGE: TN health minister K G Arunraj (left) & former law minister

NEWS TODAY 09.07.2026

State government to take legal action over deemed university status for three private medical colleges

State government to take legal action over deemed university status for three private medical colleges

Health Minister K.G. Arunraj

at the inauguration of the NalamAI WhatsApp chatbot service.B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI. 09.07.2026

With three private medical colleges obtaining ‘deemed to be university’ status, Tamil Nadu will lose 461 medical seats from the State quota, Health Minister K.G. Arunraj said on Wednesday. He added that the State government was exploring legal action, and would file a writ petition soon.

Two days ago, the State government came to know from the website of the National Medical Commission that Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Institute of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Srinivasan Medical College and Hospital, and St. Peter’s Medical College had been granted deemed university status, he said.

As a result, the State will lose 461 seats from its pool, Dr. Arunraj said, adding: “These institutions will no longer be required to follow the reservation policy, 7.5% horizontal reservation for government school students, or adhere to the fee structure prescribed by the State government. Instead, they could fill MBBS and BDS seats independently.” Additionally, 35 seats under the 7.5% quota would be lost, he said.

The State government will also take up the issue with the Centre to make a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the State government mandatory for private medical colleges to obtain deemed university status, he said.

“Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College and Srinivasan Medical College are owned by DMK MLA Kathiravan. As they fall under the Tamil Nadu Private University category, they did not apply for NOC with the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University, and applied directly to the University Grants Commission,” he told reporters after inaugurating facilities at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.

The deemed university status had been granted to St. Peter’s Medical College, Hosur, subject to an appeal filed by the Government of Tamil Nadu, he said. Karpaga Vinayaga Medical College had also applied for the status, he added.

Explaining the process, the Minister said private institutions seeking deemed university status must first obtain an NOC from their affiliated university. The affiliated university is required to issue the NOC within 60 days, failing which it shall be deemed to have been granted as per UGC rules.

In June 2023, the Karpaga Vinayaga institution, which has an engineering college and a medical college, had applied to Anna University and Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University for an NOC. 

However, no action was taken for 60 days. The NOC was issued in September 2023 during the previous regime, and the same was revoked two months later. The institution approached the High Court, and in April 2025, the court ruled that as the NOC was not issued within 60 days, it was deemed to have been issued as per UGC rules. No appeal was filed against the order by the previous government, he said.

The Minister also launched NalamAI, a WhatsApp chatbot service. The service, available on 96192 22999, has been introduced in 22 districts, where the public can generate the outpatient slips without having to wait in queues.

Four pvt colleges exploited legal loopholes: Min ‘Owned By DMK, AIADMK Leaders’

Four pvt colleges exploited legal loopholes: Min ‘Owned By DMK, AIADMK Leaders’ 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK    09.07.2026

Chennai : At least four private colleges that exploited legal loopholes to gain deemed university status, sidestepping the state’s seat-sharing rules and fee caps, are managed or owned by leaders of DMK or AIADMK, health minister K G Arunraj said Wednesday. 

At least 462 govt-quota MBBS seats and 35 seats reserved for govt-school students under the 7.5% quota, along with management-quota and BDS seats, are likely to be stripped from the state’s seat matrix, since allotments to deemed universities are made by the Centre’s medical counselling committee.

 “Two more colleges have applied for deemed status,” Arunraj said. First, two of the colleges by passed the state altogether, going straight to national regulators for approval. Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Institute of Medical Sciences and Srinivasan Medical College, both previously classified as state private universities, were granted deemed status without the state’s knowledge; the govt learnt of it only two days ago, Arunraj said. 

The state will move a writ petition seeking cancellation of the new status. “The college owned by DMK MLA S Kathiravan (Manachanallur) never applied for an NOC, yet it is listed as a deemed university. They used procedural loopholes to bypass the process and approached the UGC directly,” Arunraj said. 

“They violated state rights and social justice. “They are denying meritorious and govt school students their seats,” he added. The DMK govt also ignored mandatory procedures and failed to act on legal options in time. Karpaga Vinayaga sought clearance from Anna University for its engineering programmes and Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University for its medical college, on June 7, 2023. But neither responded within the mandated 60-day window. “So, as per the rules, it was deemed granted. Three months later, the DMK govt issued the NOC. 

For reasons unclear, it was revoked two months later. The college moved the court and got an order in its favour since no reply was given within 60 days. The govt did not appeal the ruling,” Arunraj said. St Peter’s Medical College’s application was decided within the mandated period in Dec 2023; but it was communicated six days late. The college moved Delhi high court and secured a favourable order. The state has appealed against this order, he said. Two other institutions received no response within the deadline, and their NOCs were deemed granted by default. 

The minister called the pattern evidence of political bias in vetting such applications. The state will negotiate with the Centre for legislative amendments while pursuing that legal route. “We want the govt to withdraw the amendments issued in the May 2026 notification and amend the UGC Act to restore state powers,” he said. 

A permanent fix would require moving education to the state list. But as an interim step, the state is pursuing fee caps for deemed-university colleges and seat-sharing arrangements similar to Karnataka’s system, he said. Students facing excessive fees or denied stipends at these institutions can file anonymous complaints with the state’s 104 helpline, the minister added