TN govt must intervene to prevent loss of state quota medical seats: Palaniswami

Chennai, Jul 8 (PTI) AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday urged the Centre and the TVK government in Tamil Nadu to intervene immediately to prevent the loss of state quota medical seats. In a statement, the former chief minister noted that the recent granting of "deemed university" status to several private medical colleges in the state will result in a loss of over 600 MBBS seats. He warned that this administrative shift threatens the aspirations of poor and middle-class students. Palaniswami demanded that the TVK government act on a "war footing" by upgrading the infrastructure and quality of existing government medical colleges to secure approval for additional seats from the Union government, thereby compensating for the shortfall. Furthermore, he appealed to the Centre and the University Grants Commission (UGC) to stipulate a condition ensuring state quota remains unaffected when private engineering or medical institutions are elevated to deemed universities. He suggested that the TVK government should press the Centre for legal amendments if current law is not sufficient. Highlighting his party's legacy, Palaniswami recalled the 7.5 per cent internal reservation implemented during his tenure to help government school students clear NEET. He stated that under the AIADMK regime from 2011 to 2021, government MBBS seats increased from 1,945 to over 5,500, with 19 government medical colleges newly established or converted. He criticised subsequent administrations, claiming not a single new government medical college has been opened in the state since 2021. PTI JR ADB