Tamil Nadu mulls raising 7.5% quota for NEET-qualified govt. school students in medical admissions: Health Minister

Published 10 August 2026 · local

The Tamil Nadu government is set to explore the possibility of increasing the existing 7.5% horizontal reservation for NEET-qualified State government school students in medical

The Tamil Nadu government is set to explore the possibility of increasing the existing 7.5% horizontal reservation for NEET-qualified State government school students in medical admissions, Health Minister K.G. Arunraj said on Monday (August 10, 2026). Responding to a question on whether the 7.5% quota would be increased to 10%, as per the earlier recommendation of a commission headed by Justice P. Kalaiyarasan, Mr. Arunraj told journalists in Chennai that the government will be reviewing the same on Monday, and another committee headed by a judge will be constituted. In 2020, the then AIADMK government had constituted the commission to analyse the reasons for fewer government school students getting admission to MBBS and to suggest remedial measures.

The commission had recommended that 10% of seats can be set apart on preferential basis to students who had studied in government schools and those who had qualified the Eligibility cum Entrance Test. It had also recommended the reservation should be reviewed by the State government after a period of five years from the date of implementation. Adverting to other issues, the Minister said there were complaints that the names of around 20 students who had applied for MBBS/BDS had not been included in the merit list, which is scheduled to be released later on August 10, 2026, for want of a residential certificate. He said the requirement for a residential certificate was introduced following complaints in the past that students from other States had secured admission in Tamil Nadu.

This followed an order of the Madras High Court on the requirement to submit a residential certificate. “As an alternative, we are also accepting bona fide certificates if a student has studied from Classes VI to XII in Tamil Nadu. After the issue of nearly 20 students being left out of the merit list for not submitting residential certificates came to light, we immediately asked the officials to verify their details, and if found eligible, include their names in the merit list,” he said. Deworming programme Launching the distribution of deworming tablets on Deworming Day, he said surveys show that nearly 57% of children aged six months to 59 months and 53% of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years were anaemic.

Intestinal worm infections can cause anaemia, affecting daily life, and impairing learning, concentration, and memory in children. In pregnant women, anaemia is one of the important causes for low birthweight in newborns. This is why albendazole tablets are administered twice a year as a part of the deworming programme. Intestinal worm infestation has reduced from 85% to 72% in the State, and should be reduced further, he said. He added that apart from children and young women, every adult should take the deworming tablets twice a year. Among others, Health Secretary Darez Ahamed was present.