AIADMK secretary A. Anbalagan has urged the government to change the horizontal reservation norms for NEET qualifying students who studied in government schools, which would expand the benefit to a larger pool of aspirants.

The AIADMK leader pointed out that at present, the 10% reservation being provided as a reservation in medical education was only applicable to students studying in government schools from Class 1 to 12. This resulted in students who did not study in government schools from Class 1 to 12 being unable to get admission in medical education, even if they have passed the NEET exam.

He urged Chief Minister N. Rangasamy to change the norm to include students who study in government schools from Class 8 to 12 and pass the NEET exam in the 10% reservation category.

This year, while 1,432 Puducherry students have passed the NEET exam, only 29 government school students enrolled for medical education against the 37 seats allocated under the quota for this category, he said.

At present, there are a total of 138 medical seats reserved by the government in various categories, including general medicine, surgery, orthopaedics, paediatrics, etc. The government spends crores of rupees every year on subsidising medical education relating to allottees of these seats, including 21 seats in PIMS, 49 seats in Manakula Vinayagar Medical College, 54 seats in Venkateshwaraa Medical College, and 14 seats in Indira Gandhi Government Medical College.

Mr. Anbalagan also wanted the Puducherry government to follow the example of Tamil Nadu in insisting on a bond from students joining medical education on the reservation quota. In the absence of the compulsions of such a formal bond, no specialist doctors, who benefited from the reservation benefit, were volunteering to serve in government hospitals of their own accord, he said.

In many states, including Tamil Nadu, medical students sign an agreement with the government when they join medical higher education, stating that they will work in government-provided salaries for two to three years after completing their medical higher education.

Therefore, as is the case in various states, including Tamil Nadu, the government should take appropriate steps to sign an agreement, the AIADMK leader said.