Tamil Nadu Health Minister calls Supreme Court verdict on super special seats ‘historic’

Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Minister KG Arunraj presenting the Thara Rangaswamy Award for Professional Excellence in Medicine during the Tamil Nadu Medical Council Awards 2026 held in Chennai on July 28, 2026 | Photo credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam

Tamil Nadu will give up vacant super specialty medical posts for the second round of All India Quota (AIQ) counselling. If the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) decides to reduce the percentile after counselling, 50% of the vacancies should be returned to the state, Health Minister KG Arunraj said, citing the Supreme Court (SC) verdict.

Tamil Nadu reserves 50% of its super specialty DM/MCh posts for in-service candidates. This year, 151 super special posts remained vacant in the state.

In its order, the Supreme Court directed the state to return the vacant 151 posts in the DGHS super specialty by tomorrow (July 29). DGHS should expeditiously complete the second round counseling process. The court also directed that the counseling should be conducted on the same percentile and if a decision to reduce the percentile is to be taken after the second round of counselling, then 50% of these seats should be returned to TN and the remaining 50% of the seats should be filled by subsequent counseling by DGHS as per the restored percentile, the order said.

Dr. Arunraj called the Supreme Court’s verdict “historic” and attributed it to a timely plea filed by the state government and proper arguments in the Supreme Court. Seats reserved for candidates in the service to be vacated had to be surrendered to AIQ. In the past, no proper action was taken and no proper cases were filed in court, which created a situation where doctors from Tamil Nadu could not secure seats, he said.

According to Tuesday’s verdict, if the seats remain vacant after the second round of counselling, the DGHS cannot reduce the percentile and fill the vacancies on its own. If they decide to reduce the cap, 50% of the vacant posts should be returned to the state fund, he told reporters on the sidelines of an event organized by the Tamil Nadu Medical Council (TNMC).

However, the government doctors section is skeptical as all important posts like Cardiology, Surgical Gastroenterology, Vascular Surgery and Nephrology will be filled in the all India second round of counselling. If the seats remain vacant and the percentile is reduced, candidates can get posts in services like cardiothoracic surgery and pediatric surgery. Some positions in these specializations have actually remained vacant for the past few years.

“The number of service doctors appearing for NEET super-specialty examination has decreased and the number of those opting for difficult super-specialty branches has also decreased due to lack of promotional opportunities, limitation of super-specialty posts and absence of financial increments,” noted a senior doctor.

TNMC award

At the TNMC award ceremony, the minister presented awards to 20 doctors. Addressing the gathering, he listed the various initiatives taken by the current government. This included reforms in the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation. Noting that some persons held posts for 10 to 15 years, he said no extensions were given and deputations/special posts were withdrawn.

Health Minister Darez Ahamed noted that as Tamil Nadu aims to grow into a $1.5 trillion economy, the health sector must contribute significantly to this. He asked doctors to create new products, start more research and create intellectual property in the state.

TNMC ad-hoc committee members A. Muruganathan, convener, S. Sivaram Kannan, R. Prabhakaran and G. Srinivas and registrar A. Senthil Vadivu were present.

Published – 29 Jul 2026 0:42 IST