Soon, separate quota for govt school students in MBBS admissions: TN CM

The Tamil Nadu CM also announced a commission will study the reasons behind the fall in the number of govt school students getting MBBS seats in the state.

news NEET

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday announced that government school students will soon receive reservation in medical seats in the state. The announcement was made in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

Palaniswami said that a draft of the bill which will provide for sub-reservation in medical admissions for students who had studied in government schools in the state will soon be introduced in the Assembly. He also said that this will be applicable to students who study from class 1 to class 12 in government schools. According to a report, the Chief Minister also said that after the advent of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate medical admissions, the number of government school students getting admissions into medical colleges has decreased.

The Chief Minister also announced that a commission will be set up under a retired judge of the High Court to study the reasons behind the decrease in the number of government school students getting MBBS seats in the state. The commission will have members from the state government’s departments of school education, health and family welfare and law and will analyse various factors like the socio-economic backgrounds of the students. The commission will submit a report with its recommendations to improve the number of government school students in MBBS seats within a month from the date of setting the commission up.

In NEET 2019, 2583 students from Tamil Nadu government schools had cleared the exam. However, only 39 students obtained a ranking which gave them a chance at studying MBBS in government medical colleges in the state.

The number of government school students who had joined medical colleges in 2016 was 34. As per the data from the Directorate of Medical Education, seven government school students secured MBBS seats in 2017. The number reduced to five students in 2018. However, the tally plummeted to just two students in 2019, as per another report, which added that even these two students were not giving their first attempt at NEET. Various doctors collectives have demanded that the government make a separate quota for government school students in medical admissions.