The Medical Council of India granted approval to seven self-financing medical colleges in Tamil Nadu to admit students, adding 1,000 more MBBS seats available in the State for this academic year itself.This is sure to cheer medical aspirants from Tamil Nadu, who were not able to secure admission during the counselling that was held earlier this year.

The seven colleges, the seats available under government quota and total number of seats are: Ponnayan Ramanujam Institute of Medical Sciences, Manamai, ECR (97/150); Annai Medical College and Research Centre, Sriperambudur (97/150); Adhiparasakthi Medical College, Melmaruvathur (97/150); Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College, Perambalur (75/150); Madha Medical College, Kundrathur (75/150); Karpagam Faculty of Medical Sciences and Research, Coimbatore (75/150); and Sree Moogambigai Institute of Medical Sciences, Kanyakumari (50/100).

As per MCI norms, nascent medical colleges have to obtain permission every year from the council, which entails procedures including inspections.Some of these colleges have been functioning for the past few years, but were not permitted intake during some of the years due to various inadequacies.

In all, there are 2,650 MBBS seats in government sector this academic year, besides 760 seats in the private sector.Meanwhile, the second phase of medical counselling began at the Super Multi-Speciality Hospital in Omandurar Estate on Wednesday. At the end of the day, there were 4 MBBS seats remaining in government sector and 278 in self-financing, while for BDS, the figures were 12 and 1,275 seats.

The students can login to www.tnhealth.org for further details.