CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian has written a letter to Union Health Minister J P Nadda seeking an additional round of counselling to fill 24 vacant super-speciality seats reserved for in-service candidates in Tamil Nadu's government medical colleges.

The minister highlighted in the letter that 50 per cent of super speciality seats in government medical colleges are reserved for in-service candidates, as mandated by the Supreme Court.

But, 24 of these seats remain unfilled due to recent changes in counselling guidelines, including a notification from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on June 21, 2025, permitting upgradation in the final round.

According to the notification, there have been representations made to the State's Selection Committee, seeking an extended stray round of counselling to address the vacancies.

Ma Subramanian has requested the union health ministry to intervene and permit the state to conduct this additional counselling round before August 5, 2025, to fill the vacant seats, said a press release issued by the health department.