Counseling for NEET-PG courses begin in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: After being marred by a series of legal hurdles, NEET-based single window counseling for post graduate medical and dental admissions began on Saturday.

The first day of admissions were reserved for persons with physical disability. The 22 candidates, who had applied under ‘orthopedically physically disabled candidates quota’ were called for medical examination at 11:00 am. “We will be allotting seats after approval from the medical board,” said selection committee secretary Dr G Selvarajan.

This year, there are 864 PG degree and diploma medical seats across 15 government colleges after the state surrendered 50% of seats for admission through the all India quota by the Directorate General of Health Services. The directorate, which conducted two rounds of counseling, has returned 117 vacant seats back to the state government, pushing up the total number of seats to 981.

Among self-financing institutions 10 medical colleges affiliated to The Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University have so far surrendered 172 seats for admissions through government quota. Admission for the remaining 81 seats under management quota will also be done by the selection committee as per the MCI guidelines.

Fee for admission through the government quota is fixed by a state-appointed committee and is hence lower compared to those admitted under management quota, officials said.

After nearly a decade, the Vellore-based Christian Medical College, which has more than 170 medical seats, has also promised to surrender seats to government for admission by Monday. “We will have more seats for merit candidates this year,” said director of medical education Dr A Edwin Joe.