From June 6 to 29 this year, the Tamil Nadu Selection Committee received 72,743 applications for admission to MBBS and BDS courses, an increase of 29,680 compared to last year.
Health Minister Ma Subramanian released the merit list today, Friday, July 25, announcing that offline counselling for special category candidates, including sportspersons, children of ex-servicemen, persons with benchmark disabilities, and those applying under the 7.5% government school reservation, will begin on July 30.
This in-person counselling will be held at the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital, Omandurar Government Estate. Online counselling for the general category will also commence on the same day.
A total of 4,281 applications were received under the 7.5% reservation, 477 in the sportspersons category, 642 under the children of ex-servicemen category, and 148 in the benchmark disabilities category, said a report by The Hindu.
Of the total applications, 42,315 were for government quota seats, with 39,853 candidates (13,998 boys and 25,855 girls) found eligible. Under the 7.5% reservation, 495 MBBS and 119 BDS seats are available.
Among the 4,281 applicants in this category, 4,062 candidates (1,136 boys and 2,926 girls) were eligible. For the management quota, 1,144 MBBS and 515 BDS seats are available, along with 592 MBBS and 15 BDS seats under the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) quota. Of the 33,692 applications under the management quota, 9,737 boys and 18,542 girls were eligible.
The minister also revealed that 25 candidates had submitted fake documents, including community, nativity, birth, and NRI embassy certificates. Their applications have been cancelled. Additionally, he released the merit list for allied healthcare courses.
Tirunelveli’s Soorya Narayanan S topped the government quota merit list with a National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) score of 665, followed by Abhineet Nagaraj from Salem (655) and Hruthik Vijaya Raja KS from Tiruppur (653).
In the 7.5% reservation list, Thirumurthy V from Kallakurichi district government model school secured the top spot with a score of 572, followed by Sathish Kumar M from Krishnagiri (563) and Madhumitha M from Kallakurichi (551).
This year, there are 50 fewer MBBS seats due to a reduction in intake at PSP Medical College, bringing the total number of MBBS and BDS seats in the state to 11,850. Notably, most eligible candidates across all categories were second-time NEET takers.
Of the 39,583 eligible under the government quota, 15,119 cleared NEET in their second attempt, 12,354 in their first, and 8,381 in their third. Among the 4,062 eligible in the 7.5% quota, 1,524 cleared NEET in their second attempt, 1,259 in their third, and 859 in their first.
In the management quota, 11,182 cleared in their second attempt and 10,027 in their first. Health Secretary P Senthil Kumar, Director of Medical Education (Full Additional Charge - FAC) E Theranirajan, and other officials were present during the announcement.
