Chennai, July 8 (IANS) The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) on Wednesday alleged that Tamil Nadu has lost around 700 government quota MBBS seats after six private medical colleges were converted into deemed-to-be universities, a move it said would severely impact access to affordable medical education for students from poor and middle class families.

In a statement, PMK president Dr Anbumani Ramadoss said the conversion of private medical colleges into deemed universities has significantly reduced the number of seats available under the state government quota.

According to him, three institutions — including St. Peter’s Medical College, Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College and Srinivasan Medical College in Chennai — have already been granted deemed university status. As a result, the state has lost around 350 government quota MBBS seats that were previously available in these colleges.

He further claimed that three more private medical colleges, including Karpaga Vinayaga Medical College at Maduranthakam, are expected to receive deemed university status soon, leading to the loss of another 350 government quota seats.

Altogether, nearly 700 affordable MBBS seats would no longer be available for students admitted through Tamil Nadu’s counselling process, he alleged.

Tamil Nadu currently has around 13,000 MBBS seats, including 5,050 in 36 government medical colleges, 3,900 in 22 private medical colleges, 850 in five private universities, 3,050 in deemed universities and 150 seats in a central government institution.

Besides seats under the All India Quota, admissions to government quota seats in private medical colleges are filled through NEET-based counselling conducted by the state.

Anbumani argued that students admitted under the government quota in private colleges pay annual tuition fees ranging between Rs 4.35 lakh and Rs 5.40 lakh. However, once these institutions become deemed universities, students may have to pay between Rs 23 lakh and Rs 30 lakh a year, effectively placing medical education beyond the reach of poor and middle-class families.

The PMK leader also questioned the legality of granting deemed university status without obtaining a no-objection certificate from the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, to which the colleges were previously affiliated.

Calling for urgent corrective measures, Anbumani urged the Tamil Nadu government to establish new government medical colleges in the six districts that still do not have one — Kancheepuram, Ranipet, Tirupattur, Mayiladuthurai, Tenkasi and Perambalur.

He also sought an increase of 50 MBBS seats each in the 16 government medical colleges currently admitting only 100 students annually, saying the expansion is essential to compensate for the loss of government quota seats and improve access to affordable medical education.

–IANS

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