Tamil Nadu plans Supreme Court challenge after 650 MBBS seats exit state quota

Chennai, July 9, 2026. The Tamil Nadu government is preparing a Supreme Court challenge after three private medical colleges were granted deemed-to-be-university status. The change removes about 650 MBBS seats from the state’s admission pool just as the 2026 counselling season gets underway.

The three institutions are St Peter’s Medical College (about 250 seats), and Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Institute of Medical Sciences together with Srinivasan Medical College (about 400 seats combined). A fourth, Karpaga Vinayaga Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre in Maduranthakam, has announced deemed status on its website, although NMC records still show it affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University.

The immediate consequence: admissions to these colleges move out of the Tamil Nadu Selection Committee’s hands and into all-India counselling run by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC). The state stands to lose about 350 government-quota seats right away, including seats reserved for government-school students under Tamil Nadu’s 7.5% quota. State Health Minister K.G. Arunraj has accused the colleges, some reportedly linked to leaders of major political parties, of exploiting legal loopholes. He said they approached central regulators directly and bypassed the state’s No Objection Certificate process. By his count, 462 government-quota MBBS seats plus 35 government-school-quota seats are at risk across four colleges.

The cost impact on students is steep. Government-quota students in these private colleges currently pay between ₹4.35 lakh and ₹5.4 lakh a year. As deemed universities, with no centrally fixed fee, the same colleges can charge between ₹20 lakh and ₹35 lakh annually. The opposition PMK, counting colleges already converted and three more in the pipeline, says the state could lose about 700 affordable MBBS seats. Its leader Anbumani Ramadoss has asked the government to offset the loss by adding 50 seats each in 16 government medical colleges.

State officials say the government will approach the Supreme Court early next week after consulting legal experts.

Sources

• Medical Dialogues: 3 medical colleges get deemed university status, TN plans SC challenge after 650 MBBS seats exit state quota
• Shiksha News: Tamil Nadu MBBS admissions 2026, state may lose 650 medical seats as three colleges get deemed status
• The Chenab Times: TN minister says private colleges exploited loopholes for deemed status
• Prokerala/IANS: PMK alleges TN lost 700 affordable MBBS seats due to deemed university conversions
• News Today: PMK alleges loss of 700 govt-quota MBBS seats

Seat figures vary across sources: 350 immediate government-quota seats per initial reports, 462 plus 35 per the state health minister, and about 700 per PMK’s projection that includes colleges still in the pipeline. Each figure above is attributed to who stated it.