Students, doctors protest move to privatise veterinary education in Tamil Nadu

COIMBATORE: Students of all the seven govt veterinary colleges and research institutes in Tamil Nadu staged a three-hour protest from 9am to noon on Friday demanding that the state govt reconsider its decision to privatise veterinary education. They demanded that the govt create more job opportunities for them.

Members of the Tamil Nadu Veterinary Assistant Surgeons Association extended support to the agitation by observing a one-day token casual leave protest.

Dr M Balaji, coordinator of the Tamil Nadu Veterinary Graduates Federation, said the federation had submitted a representation to chief minister M K Stalin seeking the govt’s intervention in the issue of privatisation of veterinary education in the state.

He said the seven veterinary colleges produce around 680 graduates annually while more than 8,000 veterinarians are registered in the state veterinary register. In addition, several graduates from private veterinary colleges in other states migrate to Tamil Nadu every year in search of employment, increasing competition in the veterinary job market.

Balaji said the introduction of private veterinary colleges in the state could lead to increased unemployment among veterinary graduates, a possible decline in education standards and the commercialisation of professional veterinary education. It could create a long-term imbalance in veterinary manpower planning.

He pointed out that the establishment of private veterinary colleges might strengthen the NEET-based admission framework, indirectly institutionalising NEET in veterinary education in the state, which contradicts the state’s long-standing stand against centralised entrance examinations.

The federation demanded that the govt formulate a scientific veterinary manpower policy to align education output with employment opportunities and livestock sector needs, and upgrade veterinary sub-centres into fully equipped veterinary hospitals.