Mixed Reactions From Parents As SC Backs Telangana Quota Policy

"The judgment is in the favour of GO 33. The university will release the notification after the government makes amendments in the GO for the children of state government employees who studied outside the state, as directed by the SC order. Hopefully, it will be out within this week," said Dr P.V. Nanda Kumar Reddy, Vice-Chancellor, Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences.

"My daughter lost good colleges last year due to the exceptions made for about 120 seats. Right now she is studying in Patancheru but we lost the colleges in Hyderabad. It was a loss for us but a win for prospective students," said a parent.

"The judgment has left the students and parents who were against the state's strict rules in a shock. The court was moving in the direction of supporting students initially but in the last few minutes, the state was able to convince the bench that the four-year rule has existed since the 1970s, via the Presidential Order issued under Article 371D. Secondly, with the reasoning that it is the affluent students who migrate and pursue coaching in other states,” said advocate Krishna Deb, who appeared for some of the students in the Supreme Court.

He said that it must be noted that the strict definition of the local candidate leaves out many students, despite the exceptions made.

Deb said: “One such example is students of Central government employees who have not been included in the categories listed in the state proviso. Also, lower income and marginalised families want their children to have better education and choose to send their children for coaching across the state border, too. They would be left out as well."