At the Madras Medical College (MMC) convocation on Thursday, June 2, Health Minister Ma Subramanian spoke about how steps are being taken to make MMC one of the top 10 colleges in the world.

At the 186th convocation of the college, 250 students received their degrees.

MMC is affiliated to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), was started in 1664 as a small hospital which treated British East India Company soldiers. In 1835, the medical college was started, making it one of the oldest colleges in the country, said the minister.

"Students who are graduating now belong to the batch just a year before NEET was introduced. Apart from degrees, they were given medals and certificates. World-famous doctors, including Muthulakshmi Reddy, one of the first women doctors, and Prof Saradha Menon, the country's first woman psychiatrist, graduated from this college," he added.

In one of the recent rankings, the college occupied 60th place and was in the top 100 medical colleges around the world.

While its ranking has improved from 64, steps are being taken to make it one of the top 10 colleges, he said.

"The Chief Minister has allotted Rs 66 crore for constructing a separate neurology wing with all the equipment in RGGGH in this year’s budget. Equipment worth Rs 4 crore and Rs 15 crore will be procured to strengthen the cardiology department and kidney-related treatment respectively," said the minister.

In the history of medical colleges in India, Tamil Nadu will have a special place. Of the 578 colleges in the country, 70 of them are in Tamil Nadu, he said.

Clarifying his remark about north Indian students spreading COVID-19, he said that it is the duty of the government to safeguard the students no matter which state they are from. "As COVID cases have been increasing in other states, there is nothing wrong in saying we have to be cautious," he said.