CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday issued an order taking over Rajah Muthiah Medical College in Chidambaram under the State Department for Health and Family Welfare. The college, which was affiliated to Annamalai University, will now be managed by and affiliated to the Dr MGR Medical University, Tamil Nadu.
The transfer assumes significance as students from the college have been on a sit-in protest on campus for over six weeks. They have demanded that the college reduce the fees, emphasising that it is more than that of other government medical colleges. Even as the college management shut the campus and asked students to vacate the hostels, the students continued their protests outside. Some even mounted a makeshift kitchen to feed their peers taking part in the protest.
Rajah Muthiah Medical College includes Rani Meyyammai College of Nursing and Rajah Muthiah Dental College and Hospital, both of which will be taken over as well. Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, in his Budget speech last year, said the colleges would be taken over by the government and be known as the Government Medical College, Cuddalore.
As per the government order, the property on which the college and its premises are located is worth Rs 249.99 crore. The institution has 332 teaching staff and 1,426 non-teaching staff. A total of 2,293 students are enrolled. The Health and Family Welfare Department will issue an order on the status of the staff, seats, the fee structure of the college, and its affiliation to Dr MGR Medical University.