Students are staging a protest at Namakkal Veterinary College and Research Institute on Friday. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Tamil Nadu Veterinary Graduates Federation (TNVGF) has demanded that the state government withdraw the proposal to set up private veterinary colleges in the state.
Across the state on Friday, students of veterinary colleges staged a protest on university campuses against efforts to set up private veterinary colleges in the state. At the Veterinary College and Research Institute (VCRI) in Namakkal, more than 100 students staged protests on the school premises and raised slogans against the establishment of private veterinary colleges. They said there are 24.50 million livestock in Tamil Nadu for which 5000 veterinarians are required. But there are already more than 8,000 registered veterinarians and more than 680 veterinary graduates complete their degrees from the seven government veterinary colleges every year.
Federation Coordinator M. Balaji said that Tamil Nadu is a pioneer in veterinary education through the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS). For decades, TANUVAS has maintained high academic standards and produced veterinarians serving livestock farmers, rural communities and the animal industry across the country.
Currently, more than 8,000 veterinarians are registered in the State Veterinary Register. A significant number of veterinary graduates from private veterinary colleges in other states migrate to Tamil Nadu every year in search of job opportunities. The introduction of private veterinary colleges in Tamil Nadu may result in serious problems, including unemployment, decline in educational standards, commercialization of veterinary education and long-term imbalance in veterinary manpower planning, Mr. Balaji added.
Mr. Balaji stated that the establishment of private veterinary colleges will inevitably strengthen the NEET based admission framework that the admission process for BVSc. and AH programs across the country are currently aligned with the NEET-UG assessment as per the National Regulatory Forms. This development would indirectly institutionalize NEET in veterinary education in Tamil Nadu, which is against the state’s longstanding policy of centralized entrance examinations, Mr. Balaji added.
Published – 13 March 2026 19:40 IST
