Even as demand for MBBS berths remains high in Tamil Nadu, seats in the All-India Quota are going vacant, due to what many say is a flawed allotment system. Amid this, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) — an ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) — last week called for the abolition of the All India Quota. The PMK's statement PMK leader and former Union health minister, Anbumani Ramadoss, has cited a worrying statistic: 16 MBBS seats meant for the All India Quota in Tamil Nadu's government medical colleges remain unoccupied even after four rounds of counselling. Similarly, three seats in Madurai Medical College and 17 in private medical colleges are vacant. The root of this issue, according to PMK, is the National Medical Commission's (NMC) policy regarding student admissions. Until 2020-21, the central government conducted two counselling rounds to fill the All India Quota seats. Unfilled seats would then revert to the states. Tamil Nadu, with its fierce competition for state-level seats, had no problem filling these up. But a change came when the central government, backed by a Supreme Court decision, increased counselling rounds to four. Now, if seats remain unfilled even after the fourth round, they go waste. This means that the most in-demand medical colleges, like Madurai Medical College, Chennai's Stanley Medical College, and Coimbatore's Government Medical College have vacant spots. These vacancies represent not just missed opportunities for aspiring doctors but also financial losses. The state government invests over Rs 1 crore to produce a doctor, translating to a multi-crore loss for 16 unfilled seats. Worsening situation The situation appears to have worsened from the previous year. Last year, six MBBS seats, including those in prestigious colleges like Madras Medical College and Stanley Medical College, remained unfilled. This year, the number in government-run colleges stands at 16. These seats remained vacant despite the best efforts of the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) and the State Selection Committee. As per MCC, they don't return seats to state governments or deemed universities following a Supreme Court order. Admissions closed in September, as directed by the Supreme Court. Notably, Tamil Nadu contributes more than 800 seats to the All India Quota, 15% of all available seats in its government medical colleges. Parents, students, and counsellors are pushing the state to appeal to the SC to ensure that these high-demand seats don't go unclaimed. Policy problem, solution The crux of the problem, according to experts, is a flawed admission policy by the Centre. The Centre in 2021 announced that it would no longer return any seat surrendered by state governments. In response, Tamil Nadu took legal measures to ensure the filling of 24 government medical college seats after the admission deadline. The crisis also reveals an irony — while private medical colleges, with fee up to Rs 27 lakh annually, can admit students until the deadline, state-run colleges with much lower fee are left with vacant seats. “The NMC's refusal to return the unfilled seats to the state is a clear display of authoritarianism. This stance goes against the fundamental principles of social justice and state rights. While our prestigious seats remain vacant due to this unjust possession, it's ironic that private deemed medical colleges, which don't adhere to the reservation system, are permitted to enroll students through processes they term as 'mop-up counseling' or 'stray counseling'," Dr. G R Ravindranath, leader of the Doctors Association for Social Equality, told The Indian Express. PMK leader Ramadoss suggested that the solution lies in scrapping the All India Quota, a system introduced in the 1980s to help students from states lacking medical colleges. With every state now boasting its own medical institutions, the need for such a quota is arguably redundant, said Ramadoss.
