Telangana scraps 15% non-reserved seats in 36 med colleges; to continue in 20 others

Previously, only 85% of the seats were reserved for local Telangana students, while the remaining 15% were unreserved, allowing students from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh state also to compete

The Telangana government has issued orders doing away with 15% unreserved quota for admissions in all the medical colleges in the state established after June 2, 2014, thereby making 100% seats available only for the state domicile students.

The Telangana government has issued orders doing away with 15% unreserved quota for admissions in all the medical colleges in the state established after June 2, 2014 (PTI)

According to the government order issued by secretary (medical and health) SAM Rizvi, the state government made an amendment to this effect in the Telangana state medical colleges admission rules.

“These amendments have been made in accordance with the AP Reorganization Act and Article 371D of the Constitution),” the order said.

As per the amended rules, all the seats in the competitive authority quota in medical colleges established after June 2, 2014, will be filled up exclusively by Telangana students.

Earlier, 85% of the seats were reserved for local Telangana students, while the remaining 15% were unreserved, allowing students from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh also to compete. With this latest decision, Telangana students will now have a greater chance of securing MBBS [Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery] seats, state medical and health minister T Harish Rao said.

However, this amendment is applicable to only those medical colleges, which were established after June 2, 2014, when the new state of Telangana came into being. Those medical colleges, which were existing before this date, would continue to provide a 15% unreserved quota in which students from Andhra Pradesh can also compete for admission.

“Before the formation of Telangana, there were a total of 20 medical colleges, including both government and private institutions. However, this number has now increased to 56, significantly expanding the availability of medical education opportunities. Previously, Telangana had 2,850 MBBS seats, but this number has now risen to 8,340 seats,” he said.

Among the 2,850 seats available in the 20 medical colleges prior to the formation of Telangana, 1,895 seats were allocated under the Competent Authority quota and the rest under management quota. Within this Competent Authority quota, 15 percent were unreserved seats, totalling 280 seats. Both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh students had the opportunity to compete for these seats.

“Unfortunately, this often resulted in Telangana students losing their rightful seats. To address this issue, the state has amended the rules by restricting the unreserved quota to only 20 old medical colleges, while exempting the 36 new medical colleges from this provision. As a result, 520 medical seats have been exclusively allocated for Telangana students,” Rao said.

Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao took the initiative to establish government medical colleges in each district of Telangana, with the aim of providing quality healthcare services and medical education to local students, the state’s medical and health minister added.