Madras Medical College to house top 10 under 7.5% quota as spl category counselling begins

CHENNAI: The direct counselling for special categories under MBBS/BDS courses, including the 7.5 per cent preferential government quota, persons with disabilities, ex-servicemen quota and sports quota, for medical and dental colleges in the state commenced on Thursday. The health minister handed over the allotment orders to the candidates.

Under the 7.5 per cent preferential government quota, 496 medical seats and 126 dental seats have been allocated. Among these, 319 MBBS seats have been earmarked in government medical colleges, seven in ESI KK Nagar, 148 in self-financing medical colleges and 22 in private universities. Of the 126 dental seats, 16 have been allocated for government dental colleges and 110 for self-financing dental colleges.

There has been a surge in the admissions of government school students since the 7.5 per cent quota was implemented in the state. This year government school students are admitted to 496 MBBS seats and 126 BDS seats. The top 10 students under the 7.5 per cent preferential quota have been allotted seats at Madras Medical College.

A total of 133 persons with disabilities have applied for admission, while 343 applications have been received under the sports quota and 455 applications in the ex-servicemen service quota.

A total of 223 MBBS/BDS seats are available for persons with disabilities, 11 seats are available under the ex-servicemen quota, and eight seats are available under the sports quota. The online counselling for the general category candidates was conducted on Wednesday.

As per the updated schedule by the Directorate of Medical Education, the seat allotment process will be completed on August 28, and provisional results will be out on August 29, and the final result will follow on August 30. The provisional allotment order can be downloaded until September 5. The last date of joining is also on September 5, until 5 pm.

The minister said that though there were several issues about the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) this year but they were resolved and the counselling for MBBS and BDS courses in the state is being conducted.

Students’ safety is priority, says Health Minister

Responding to the concerns around medical students’ safety being raised across the country after the recent rape and murder of a female post-graduate trainee doctor from Kolkata, the health minister said that the safety of the students is a priority of the government. “Measures will be taken to strengthen the healthcare system by increasing the number of doctors and nurses in the hospitals, and improving infrastructure arrangements considering safety.” He added that the medical colleges are also equipped with CCTVs for additional security measures.