Now Reading: Tamil Nadu to get 40 super speciality seats back after NEET-SS cut-off lowered
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Tamil Nadu to get 40 super speciality seats back after NEET-SS cut-off lowered
Tamil Nadu to get 40 super speciality seats back after NEET-SS cut-off lowered
Tamil Nadu is set to reclaim 40 of the 151 super speciality seats it had surrendered to the All India Quota after the Centre told the Supreme Court it is lowering the…
Tamil Nadu is set to reclaim 40 of the 151 super speciality seats it had surrendered to the All India Quota after the Centre told the Supreme Court it is lowering the NEET-Super Speciality qualifying percentile from the 50th to the 30th. The seats, meant for in-service candidates, were surrendered after a May 29 Supreme Court order. Around 100 eligible in-service candidates are waiting, and fresh applications will be invited after the court's formal orders are received.
The Tamil Nadu Medical Officers' Association (TNMOA) filed multiple petitions to get the seats back. At a hearing on September 17, 2026, the Medical Counselling Committee informed the court of the reduced cut-off, leading to the reversion of all remaining unfilled in-service seats to the state. Last year, Tamil Nadu surrendered 145 seats and got 39 back. Some senior government doctors criticised the process, saying the eligibility cut-off should be removed from the prospectus for service candidates.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The fight over super speciality seats highlights a long-standing tension between state reservation policies for in-service doctors and the all-India merit pool governed by the Centre. Tamil Nadu's in-service quota, which gives weightage to government doctors serving in rural and underserved areas, often sees low uptake in niche super speciality branches due to poor promotion prospects and financial incentives. The NEET-SS percentile cut-off has been a recurring flashpoint: last year too, a similar reduction was sought after seats went vacant. With the Medical Counselling Committee now agreeing to lower the bar to the 30th percentile, the key question is how many of the 100-odd waiting candidates will actually take up these seats once applications reopen. The next date in the Supreme Court will clarify the timeline for the fresh counselling window.
Source: thehindu.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
