TN knocks SC doors against its order to surrender 151 super-specialty medical seats

Chennai: Tamil Nadu filed a curative petition in Supreme Court, seeking reconsideration of its May 29 order directing the state to surrender 151 unfilled super-specialty medical seats to the Centre for admission through the national pool, health minister K G Arunraj said on Friday. He said these seats are essential to protect opportunities for in-service govt doctors.

The petition is the latest move in a months-long standoff — one that has frozen super-specialty admissions in seats such as cardiology, neurology, nephrology and neurosurgery across the country, leaving more than 6,400 seats unfilled. Earlier this year, TN reserved 219 seats — nearly half of the 422 available across roughly 25 super-specialty streams in govt medical colleges — exclusively for govt doctors clearing NEET-SS. The state selection committee received just 170 applications. Of this, only 100 doctors who had scored at the 50th percentile or above in their respective question paper groups — with qualifying scores ranging from 255 to 389 depending on the stream — made it to the rank list. After two rounds of state counselling, 71 allotments were made, and 68 doctors joined courses.

Seats in several of the 25 specialties went entirely untouched. This is not a new problem. In 2024, 119 unfilled state quota seats were surrendered to the national pool, and 145 last year. The state says the Centre lowered the qualifying percentile and filled them through the national merit list after the seats were surrendered — meaning candidates with lower scores, who were not TN govt doctors, joined the courses.

This year, the new TVK govt has decided to change the calculus. “The state deliberately chose not to surrender the seats,” Arunraj said. “The seats should be retained to ensure opportunities for govt doctors. As and when the Centre lowers the qualifying percentile, more candidates may apply and take the seats. All seats allocated under the state quota must be filled by candidates from TN,” he added.

While the state is fighting in court to secure its right to the seats, academics and senior govt doctors say the state’s bond conditions, poor pay and a lack of timely promotions have all pushed in-service doctors to pass up super-specialty courses. TN govt doctors say the in-service super-specialty seat comes loaded with conditions that make it unattractive even for those who qualify.

Under admission rules, a govt doctor who joins a DM or MCh course must serve the state until superannuation — there is no fixed number of years, no midway exit. The prospectus is unambiguous: “All service candidates of Tamil Nadu shall execute a bond for a sum of ₹50 lakh as security amount with the undertaking that they will serve the Govt of Tamil Nadu till superannuation.” The bond must be backed by two permanent govt employees and a family member as guarantors — an ordeal that candidates say is harder to clear than the exam itself. “Do they understand how difficult it is to get a guarantor,” asked Dr A Ramalingam, state secretary of Service and Post-Graduate Doctors Association.

The disincentives do not end there. The govt has a shortage of cardiothoracic surgeons. “But seats are empty because those joining get no no promotion or pay rise. There is no guarantee they will be posted in the super-specialty department either,” Dr Ramalingam said. Even if the Centre lowers the cutoff, there is no guarantee the seats will fill up, he added.