Udhayanidhi Stalin Urges Chief Minister to Retain 152 Super Speciality Medical Seats
In Chennai, Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin has written to Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, urging the state government to immediately intervene and ensure that 152 unfilled super speciality medical seats in Tamil Nadu are not surrendered to the All-India quota. Retaining these seats under the state quota would ensure they remain accessible to local medical aspirants and benefit the state's healthcare system.
In his letter sent on Thursday, Udhayanidhi stated that surrendering these seats would adversely affect government doctors in Tamil Nadu and weaken specialised healthcare services in government hospitals. He urged the new administration to take immediate steps to protect the quota rights of in-service doctors.
Out of 430 super speciality medical seats in Tamil Nadu allocated for the 2025 NEET-based counselling, 215 seats were reserved for in-service government doctors. While 63 seats were successfully filled after two rounds of counselling, 152 seats remained vacant.
The Supreme Court issued an order on May 29 directing the transfer of these vacant seats to the All India quota. This ruling came during a case filed by a candidate named Tamilvani.
Udhayanidhi claimed that the Supreme Court's decision occurred because the new government failed to present proper arguments during the hearing. He alleged that the counsel appearing for Tamil Nadu failed to point out that the judgment cited by the petitioner did not apply to the case.
Furthermore, Udhayanidhi stated that the counsel did not raise objections over surrendering the seats before the completion of the All India second-round counselling. He noted that the counsel instead agreed to surrender the 152 seats, leading to the Supreme Court's directive.
Udhayanidhi pointed out that the previous DMK government had successfully argued before the Supreme Court during hearings held in April, preventing the transfer of the unfilled seats to the All-India quota at that time.
