Chennai, May 3 (IANS). PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Sunday demanded immediate opening of new government medical colleges in six districts of Tamil Nadu. This demand has been made after the National Medical Commission (NMC) withdrew the restrictive rules which were hindering the expansion of medical education in the state.
In a statement, Anbumani Ramadoss said the removal of the earlier rule has created an opportunity to set up government medical colleges in Kancheepuram, Ranipet, Tirupattur, Mayiladuthurai, Perambalur and Tenkasi districts.
He appealed to the state government to take steps without delay to increase access to medical education and health infrastructure.
The PMK leader said that under the now-removed rule issued by NMC on August 16, 2023, the limit of 100 MBBS seats per 10 lakh population was fixed. This meant that states were not allowed to open new medical colleges or increase seats if there were more seats than the prescribed ratio. Based on the population of Tamil Nadu, the state would have been allowed only 7,731 MBBS seats, while 12,650 seats already existed in government and private colleges. Due to this the expansion was completely stopped.
Ramdas said that PMK had opposed this rule from the beginning and he had also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw it.
After this, NMC had postponed the implementation of this rule by one year and approved only those institutions which had applied before 2025. Welcoming the new notification issued on April 27, 2026, he said that this will give impetus to the stalled plans to expand medical education in Tamil Nadu and other southern states.
He reiterated PMK’s long-standing goal that every district should have at least one government medical college. Ramdas told that Edappadi K. During the Palaniswami-led AIADMK government, 13 new government medical colleges were opened in 50 months, the highest in the state’s history.
However, he asked Chief Minister M.K. Criticizing the Stalin-led DMK government, he alleged that not a single new government medical college was opened during its tenure.
He said the government had enough time to set up new colleges in the last four years, even before the ban came into effect in 2025, but it did not do so. Ramdas added that now that the regulatory hurdles have been removed, the state should give priority to expanding the medical infrastructure.
He assured that if a pro-people government comes to power, the PMK will press for rapid steps in this direction.
–IANS
