Tamil Nadu: A 250 seat increase likely in 2018 at 3 government medical colleges

Chennai: The Directorate of Medical Education has sought the apex education regulator’s permission to add at least 250 seats each to the undergraduate medical courses at the three existing government colleges in Tirunelveli, Madurai, and Chengalpet.

If sanction were granted the number of seats at each of these colleges would rise from 150 each to 250 each while Chengalpet seats would increase from 100 to 150. The total number of seats will be raised to 3,150 in the public colleges.

Presently it is the Madras Medical College and the Stanley Medical College, in Chennai, that enjoy a seat strength of 250 seats. "We are hoping to add these seats for the 2018 batch," said Director Medical Education Dr A Edwin Joe . A new medical college will come up in Karur by year-end, he added. The medical college is expected to admit students by 2019, he stated.

Tamil Nadu has the largest force of 23 state-run colleges, one of the largest of this kind in the country. However, 14 of the state's 32 districts are yet to have a medical college.

There are four medical colleges in Chennai, another in Coimbatore along with an ESIC college run by the state government. "We do want to have at least one medical college in every district but at the same time, we also want to strengthen many medical colleges so we can have more postgraduate and super specialty courses. Every year, we have managed to get at least 100 additional MBBS seats," said Dr Joe.

Presently, the state has 2,900 seats in 22 government colleges. Of these, 434 seats have been given away to the Directorate General of Health Services for admissions through the all-India quota.

State admissions this year began in 33 medical colleges, including seven private medical colleges, offering 3,534 MBBS seats.

There were 1,300 seats in 10 self-financing medical colleges affiliated to the Tamil Nadu, Dr MGR Medical University besides the above reports TOI.

Four more private medical colleges have applied for permission to start new colleges after having been denied approval last year, officials said.