PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Thursday welcomed the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) move to defer its decision to cap the number of MBBS seats to 100 per 10 lakh population in the States, by a year.
The NMC’s notification, which was originally planned to be implemented from 2024-25, would have affected southern States, including Tamil Nadu, Mr. Ramadoss said in a statement.
As per the proposed rule, there can only be 7,686 medical seats in Tamil Nadu. But there are 11,225 seats. With the new norm, the State would not be able to establish new medical colleges and create more seats, the PMK president noted.
However, he said the move to defer the plan to 2025-26 is wrong, and noted that the opposition from Southern States, including Tamil Nadu, will be valid for the years to come. He sought the permanent withdrawal of the NMC decision.
In a separate statement, Mr. Ramadoss condemned the State government and the police for detaining, under the Goondas Act, the farmers who were protesting against the proposed SIPCOT project near Cheyyar, and demanded their release.