Medical Aspirants in a Fix as Uncertainty Lingers over Competent Authority Quota
Hyderabad: With the NEET results having been declared, students' anticipation of securing admissions to medical colleges in the state is high. However, a lot of uncertainty lingers over the issue of seats allocated to students under the Competent Authority quota. As per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, students of Andhra Pradesh were eligible to apply for 15% seats in the unreserved category in medical colleges in Telangana and vice-versa for TG students.
However, very few students from Telangana preferred to join AP colleges. Meanwhile, AP students were able to get seats easily in Telangana colleges as the cut-off for admissions is relatively less compared to the colleges in Andhra Pradesh.
The BRS government had attempted to restrict these seats to Telangana students. As per the Government Order 72 (dated July 3, 2023), in colleges that were established after the state formation, 100% of these seats were reserved for local students. Colleges existing before the bifurcation were supposed to continue with the old system.
In retaliation, the Andhra Pradesh government released GO 101, which scrapped the 15% seats available to Telangana students in all AP colleges, whether old or new.
With the state completing 10 years, it is uncertain whether the old medical colleges in Telangana will now continue to provide these seats to students from Andhra Pradesh.
Students and stakeholders have been demanding that this system had to be scrapped.
"Yes, the government should decide fast on scrapping this system as Andhra Pradesh students are benefitting from our education system while Telangana students lag behind. Andhra Pradesh universities were supposed to give 15% seats to Telangana students but due to low preference of students to study there, the seats went to other states," said Dr. Srinivas Gundagani, vice-chairman, Telangana State Medical Council.
"There is also something called cesspool, under which all government colleges are supposed to provide 15% seats to students from other states in the country," Dr Gundagani said.
With the state completing ten years of formation, there is a hope that this system will be done away with entirely, specifically given that Hyderabad has ceased to be a joint capital.
Meanwhile, the principal and professors of Osmania Medical College (OMC) said that no official declaration has been made by the government in this regard.
"We can only implement whatever the government decides. As of now, there is no intimation. It might be in the works," said Dr. Narendra Kumar Are, principal of OMC.
"We have been continuously taking it up with the university and we are expecting that it will be scrapped before the admission process begins this year. Clarity will only come once the prospectus is released," said Harsha Gandhi, president of Telangana Junior Doctors' Association (T-JUDA).
Health secretary Christina Chongthu was not available for comment.
