CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Health Minister KG Arunraj on Thursday (July 30) termed the Supreme Court's interim order on the surrender of unfilled super specialty medical seats a "victory" for the state, as the DGHS cannot lower the cutoff.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "The Supreme Court after hearing a review petition filed by the state government, ruled that the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) may conduct counselling for these surrendered seats but without lowering the existing cutoff mark. However, if a decision is made by the DGHS to reduce the cutoff, those seats must be surrendered back to the Tamil Nadu state pool."
The Supreme Court's recent interim order stipulated that the DGHS should complete the All India Quota (AIQ) counselling for the surrendered seats without lowering the existing cutoff percentile.
The court stated that if, after this second round, a decision is made to reduce the cutoff percentile, then 50 per cent of the seats must be reverted to Tamil Nadu. The remaining 50 per cent would be filled through subsequent counselling by the DGHS using the new, reduced percentile.
Arunraj claimed that the former DMK government freely surrendered 119 seats in 2024 and 145 super specialty seats in 2025 to the AIQ, as it yielded state rights without protest.
"During the previous years, after we surrendered the seats, the DGHS lowered the cutoff and filled the seats using the AIQ," he claimed.
The health minister was addressing the ongoing legal and political controversy surrounding 151 vacant super specialty seats on the sidelines of a construction inspection at Dr M G R Medical University.
Arunraj said the seats remained unfilled after local candidates failed to meet the 50th percentile cutoff mark mandated by the DGHS.
"We take this as a victory for the Tamil Nadu government's sincere efforts," Arunraj said, adding that the state's ultimate aim is to ensure state-allocated seats are retained for doctors serving under the Tamil Nadu government.