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The Doctors for Social Equality Association (DASE) has urged the Tamil Nadu government to safeguard state interests over super-speciality medical education seats, warning that years of Supreme Court rulings and Union government policy have steadily stripped states of their rights over medical admissions to the detriment of public hospitals and poor patients.
In a press conference held at the Chennai Press Club on Saturday, June 6, Dr GR Ravindranath, general secretary of DASE, recollected that until 2016, Tamil Nadu controlled 100% of its super-speciality seats. A Supreme Court order that year transferred the entire pool to the All India Quota.
He alleged that even though subsequent litigation restored 50% of seats for state government doctors, even those are routinely seized by the Union government after two counselling rounds and reallocated to out-of-state candidates at a lowered NEET cut-off.
He warned that this system is allegedly creating a dangerous shortage of super-speciality doctors in Tamil Nadu's public hospitals, directly harming poor patients who depend on them.
The association demanded that the Union government amend the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act 2019 to restore full state control over super-speciality seats, split equally between government doctors and open competition for other states. It also calls for Tamil Nadu to be allowed to conduct its own entrance examinations, independent of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), for state-quota admissions.
Also, the association demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, asking for accountability over the NEET paper leak and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) evaluation scandals. They also called for the dissolution of the National Testing Agency (NTA), to be replaced by a UPSC-like statutory body.
Further, it demanded the implementation of the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan Committee, the introduction of online examination for NEET, the setting of age limits for applicants, and minimum Class 12 science score thresholds – 60% for general category students and 50% for SC/ST candidates – as eligibility criteria.
Other demands included ending the contract-based hiring of government doctors, filling vacant posts, manufacturing essential medicines through public-sector undertakings, and a 30% pay rise for National Health Mission workers. The group also called for the immediate release of seven months of unpaid wages owed to mosquito-control workers in the Erode district.
This article was written by a student interning with TNM