Udhayanidhi urges TVK govt to retain 152 super speciality seats in state quota

Chennai: Leader of the opposition in the assembly Udhayanidhi Stalin urged chief minister C Joseph Vijay to immediately intervene and ensure that 152 unfilled super speciality medical seats in Tamil Nadu are not surrendered to the all-India quota.

In a letter to Vijay sent on Thursday, Udhayanidhi said the Supreme Court’s May 29 order directing the transfer of the vacant seats to the All India quota came after the new govt failed to present proper arguments during the hearing in a case filed by a candidate, Tamilvani.

“The move to surrender 152 super speciality seats to the all-India quota will adversely affect govt doctors in Tamil Nadu and weaken specialised healthcare services in govt hospitals. The state govt must take immediate steps to protect the quota rights of in-service doctors,” Udhayanidhi said.

Udhayanidhi said that of the 430 super speciality medical seats in Tamil Nadu for the 2025 NEET-based counselling, 215 seats were reserved for in-service govt doctors. While only 63 seats were filled after two rounds of counselling, 152 seats remained vacant.

He said the previous DMK govt successfully argued before the Supreme Court in hearings held in April and prevented the transfer of the unfilled seats to the all-India quota. However, after the new govt assumed office, the counsel appearing for Tamil Nadu allegedly failed to point out that the judgment cited by the petitioner was not applicable to the case. The counsel also did not raise objections over surrendering the seats before completion of the All India second-round counselling, he said.

``The counsel had himself agreed to surrender the 152 seats, following which the Supreme Court directed that they be transferred to the all-India quota,’’ Udhayanidhi said.