It’s a pretty good year for a 12th grader with medical admission aspirations. With the Medical Council of India approving an additional 285 seats for three state-run medical colleges, the cut-off is set to plunge by at least 0.5-1.25 marks. At a meeting on June 4, the MCI’s board approved 100 seats for the Tiruvannamalai Medical College and an additional 85 seats for the premier Madras Medical College: taking the number of seats from 165 to 250.
A week ago, Stanley Medical College had obtained approval for an additional 100 seats taking its tally to 250. The cut off was estimated to be a little higher than last year owing to the fact that the number of students who secured 195-199 in Physics had been exceptionally high this time. With the increase in seats through the single-window counselling system, the cut-off will almost certainly dip - making it slightly easier to get an MBBS seat.
Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan told Express that they had been in constant consultation with the MCI for the additional medical seats and were happy that it finally came through. Though the Council has pointed out a few discrepancies with SMC, MMC and TMC - such as a shortage of associate professors, residents quarters and some infrastructural deficiencies - the Health Secretary said that all of the facilities had been provided for and a physical examination by the MCI, to be carried out by June 30, would merely ratify. While the news will induce cheer amongst medical students as they arrive to receive their random numbers on Friday, a group of students from the beleaguered DD Medical College protested outside the TN Dr MGR Medical University. Though the courts have upheld that their admission was ‘illegal’ as the college had been denied permission to admit students in 2011-12, the students wanted compensation with medical seats elsewhere. The VC spoke to them and advised them to take up legal recourse as the matter was between college and MCI.