Chennai: Tamil Nadu health department issued an order which stated that doctors in government service will be eligible for incentives of up to 30% over and above their NEET score for postgraduate admissions.

The order was issued based on the recommendations made by a seven-member committee. The committee categorised service doctors into four classes and allocated incentives to them according to their place of work.

According to the new order, doctors who working in hilly areas are eligible to get 10% grace marks above their NEET score while those working in difficult areas in the plains will get 9%.

Doctors working in remote areas are eligible for an incentive of 8% of grace marks above their NEET score and those working in rural areas are eligible for 5% of marks above their NEET-PG score.

Students were left confused upon receiving the notification regarding the maximum incentive a student can be granted.

A clarification was then issued, stating that irrespective of the number of years of service a PG aspirant has rendered, the maximum marks he or she can be granted as an incentive cannot exceed 30%.

While PG aspirants serving in urban centres are not eligible for incentives at all, those working as health officers in the state public health department can receive 10% grace marks over their NEET score.

However, health officers are eligible to pick only community medicine as their PG speciality and it is compulsory for them to complete their PG course in five years, the Public Health Department clarified.

In the recently released NEET-PG results, Tamil Nadu had the highest number of candidates qualifying for the exams, thereby becoming eligible for a seat in government medical colleges.

14% (11,121 students) of the total number of candidates who cleared NEET-PG exams were from Tamil Nadu.