Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Medical Education instructed all self-financing medical colleges and dental colleges in the state to admit government school students who qualified for seats under 7.5% NEET quota without insisting on the fee. Many students who received the seats in private medical and dental colleges under horizontal reservation were unable to enroll since they were not able to afford the fees of the college.
In a circular to the deans, Director of Medical Education Dr R Narayanababu said, “As per the instructions of the government, all the self-financing medical colleges and dental colleges coming under the single window selection of the Directorate of Medical Education are instructed to admit all the candidates of the government schools selected under 7.5% reservation category immediately without insisting on fees after verifying their certificates and identity as per norms.”
He added that students should not be denied admission over payment of fees, and that financial aid announced by the government will take care of it.
“Any student denied admission should be called back and given admission as per the instructions,” the letter read.
The announcement has come as a relief for several students who opted for medical seats in self-financing colleges as the seats in government medical and dental colleges were full.
For the first time, the Tamil Nadu government conducted counseling for medical seats reserved for government school students under 7.5% quota. Last month, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit provided his assent for the horizontal reservation to facilitate government school students who cleared NEET to receive seats in medical colleges.
The medical counseling took place for 313 MBBS seats and 92 BDS seats. The counseling will be held for special category students including people with disabilities, sports achievers and children of ex-servicemen. On Monday, counseling will be held for students under the general category.