Super-speciality seats row: Tamil Nadu government has corrected past lapses, says Health Minister
Tamil Nadu Health Minister K.G. Arunraj on Thursday (July 30, 2026) reiterated that the State government has corrected the massive lapses of the previous two
Tamil Nadu Health Minister K.G. Arunraj on Thursday (July 30, 2026) reiterated that the State government has corrected the massive lapses of the previous two years by securing a Supreme Court order that 50% of the super-speciality seats remaining vacant after the second round of the All India Quota (AIQ) counselling should be reverted to Tamil Nadu, if the qualifying cut-off is reduced. He also clarified that the senior advocates representing Tamil Nadu had presented arguments before the Supreme Court during the hearing and were unable to connect on the day of the final judgment due to a technical glitch. Shortly after inspecting the Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital (KCSSH), the Minister, referring to a statement issued by former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on the super-speciality seats issue on Wednesday (July 29), said it gave the impression that Tamil Nadu was surrendering the super-speciality seats to the AIQ for the first time.
A total of 119 seats in 2024 and 145 seats in 2025 were surrendered to the AIQ by the then State government. The State had conducted two rounds of counselling based on the minimum cut-off (50th percentile) determined by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). These seats remained unfilled as only a limited number of doctors met the qualifying percentile. During the previous DMK government, the unfilled seats reserved for service doctors were surrendered to the AIQ without any condition or opposition in 2024 and 2025, he explained. “This year, we faced the same problem. In fact, the SC directed the State to immediately surrender the unfilled seats after two rounds of counselling to the AIQ. But we did not surrender the seats. A contempt petition was also filed in the SC against the Health Secretary.
We filed a writ petition. If the cut-off was reduced, we could have filled the seats with Tamil Nadu doctors. In 2024 and 2025, the DGHS reduced the cut-off marks after Tamil Nadu surrendered the unfilled seats and filled them through AIQ counselling. As a result, Tamil Nadu doctors did not get the seats meant for them,” Dr. Arunraj said. “Tamil Nadu made strong arguments in the Supreme Court and explained that we could have filled those seats as we have so many service doctors but could not do so as the cut-off was high,” he added. In its verdict, the Supreme Court has directed that the counselling (AIQ second round) should be conducted on the same percentile, he said, adding: “The State has obtained a verdict that if, after the counselling, a decision to reduce the percentile is taken, then 50% of the unfilled seats should be reverted to Tamil Nadu.” He said that the government was firm against surrendering the seats, appointed senior advocates and made proper arguments, leading to the “victory”.
The BriefWire