Two candidates from the State who opted for commerce stream in Class XII attempted the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test and were declared qualified by the National Testing Agency, which conducts the test.
The Directorate of Medical Education (DME) officials later found that the two candidates had not studied biology or any science subjects in Classes XI and XII and had to reject their applications, an official said.
According to him, a 67-year-old retired schoolteacher also appeared for the test and qualified under the 7.5% preferential reservation for government school students. “But he is ineligible as he did not study under the 10+2 system of higher secondary schooling,” the official added. The candidate claimed to have studied life sciences as a subject and scored 430. He had taken the test last year as well and had scored 387.
In 2022, a similar incident happened in the State when a 61-year-old retired zoology schoolteacher from Dharmapuri had qualified and even appeared for counselling. He was rejected during the counselling as he had not completed Class XII under the National Medical Commission prescribed system of schooling.
Of the 40,200 applications the DME received, 1,193 were rejected as many had claimed nativity after having studied in another State. Under the 7.5% reservation category, 3,042 applications were received, of which 2,662 were found eligible.
According to officials, a candidate with single digit marks had also applied and the application was rejected. As many as 179 sportspersons, 401 wards of ex-servicemen and 98 candidates with disabilities have applied.
This year, in-person counselling for candidates under the special category will be held at Kalaignar Centenary Multi Super Speciality Hospital instead of Government Omandurar Medical College, Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said and added that counselling for the general category candidates would be conducted online.
Admissions for courses
Meanwhile, the DME notified admission for Pharm.D and Diploma in Nursing courses for the current academic year.
Applications will be available at www.tnhealth.tn.gov.in and www.tnmedicalselection.org. Online applications will open on July 17 at 10 a.m., and the last date to apply is July 26 till 5 p.m.
Number of government school students who qualified in NEET since 2020 and number of seats available
| Year of qualifying | No, of seats available, including in dental colleges | No of students who qualified |
| 2020-2021 | 435 | 1,957 |
| 2021-2022 | 555 | 4,118 |
| 2022-2023 | 584 | 3,982 |
| 2023-2024 | 606 | 2,662 (eligible applicants) |
*Source - Directorate of Medical Education and School Education department
