43% MBBS seats go unallotted in stray round

43% MBBS seats go unallotted in stray round 

07.11.2026

Chennai: A total of 410 of the 946 MBBS seats offered in Medical Counselling Committee’s special stray round had no takers. On Friday, when the committee released the results of special stray round, all 207 seats in BDS and 66 seats in nursing listed in the seat matrix were allotted to students, but MBBS seats in eight medical colleges in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry remained. If students allotted seats don’t join colleges, vacancies may go up again. 

All MBBS vacancies were in eight colleges: 181 or 250 sanctioned seats in Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, 91/250 at Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute in Puducherry, 77 seats in Shree Balaji Medical College and Hospital, 36 seats in Vinayaka Missions Kirupananda Variyar Medical College in Salem, 17 seats in ACS Medical College and Hospital in Chennai, and six seats in SRM Medical College and Research Institute. One seat each in Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute and Savitha Medical College and Hospital were vacant. 

At the end of the previous stray round, 837 MBBS seats were unallotted. High fees appear to be the main reason seats at deemed universities remain empty. Parents said many institutions, including some in Karnataka and TN, offered annual fee concessions, mostly in private discussions with students and their families. “The discounts were not announced publicly, so students who didn’t get them may have turned down the seats,” said R Kaliarasan, a NEET coach. Times News Network

NEWS TODAY 06.11.2026

Collector’s approval not needed to use agricultural wetland for non-farm purposes: TN government

Collector’s approval not needed to use agricultural wetland for non-farm purposes: TN government

The change follows the passage of an amendment to TN Town and Country Planning Act, 1971, in the recent Assembly session.

Housing and Urban Development secretary R Kirlosh Kumar said the order was issued to reduce the time taken to process applications and simplify the procedure. The change follows the passage of an amendment to TN Town and Country Planning Act, 1971, in the recent Assembly session. File Photo.

Rudhran Baraasu

Updated on:

06 Nov 2026, 7:18 am

CHENNAI: Now, district collectors’ concurrence is not needed for converting agricultural wetland into non-agricultural one in non-planning areas. The move by the state government aims at simplifying the approval process and reducing delays. According to a G.O. issued by the Housing and Urban Development Department on November 4, the director of Town and Country Planning will now grant prior concurrence for such conversions.

Housing and Urban Development secretary R Kirlosh Kumar said the order was issued to reduce the time taken to process applications and simplify the procedure. The change follows the passage of an amendment to TN Town and Country Planning Act, 1971, in the recent Assembly session.

The legislation amended Sections 47-A and 9-F, removing the collector’s role in granting prior concurrence and making the DTCP the authority in wetland conversion cases.

A senior DTCP official said earlier promoters and builders had to first approach the collector for land conversion and then apply to the DTCP for planning permission. “The order has not removed any checklist or safeguard. All mandatory NOCs from departments concerned are still required for conversion,” the official said.

The latest order prescribes nine documents that applicants must upload through the online Single Window Portal. These include sale or lease deeds, patta, Chitta, Adangal records for the past three Fasli years, a site drainage plan and a topographical plan showing existing developments within a 500-metre radius of the proposed site. Applicants must also submit an affidavit undertaking that no government poramboke or land belonging to others is included in the proposal.

The order also removes Rule 6 of the 2017 Rules, which prescribed the collector’s site inspection and scrutiny. However, the safeguards under Rule 7 remain. Rule 7 prescribes the safeguards that the director of DTCP must examine before granting prior concurrence.

S Ramaprabhu of Builders Association of India said applications earlier took two to three months to process. “We hope that under the new system, it will take 15 to 30 days,” he said. A few weeks ago, the government had dropped the Agriculture Department’s approval requirement for the industrial use of dry agricultural land.

NEWS NEWSTODAY 05.11.2026