Harish fears injustice to local students under new medical admission rules

He was worried that the children of Telangana might be considered non-natives under the current Government Order (GO No 33) related to MBBS admissions issued by the Medical Education department.

Hyderabad: Former Minister and senior BRS legislator T Harish Rao raised serious concerns about the new rules implemented by the State government for medical admissions, warning that they could result in local students being classified as non-locals. He slammed the State government for lacking a comprehensive policy for admissions into educational institutions in Telangana in this regard.

Speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan on Wednesday, Harish Rao criticised the Congress government for lacking clarity on key issues, particularly regarding the future of students, even after eight months in power. He was worried that the children of Telangana might be considered non-natives under the current Government Order (GO No 33) related to MBBS admissions issued by the Medical Education department.

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“The fresh guidelines by the Congress government to define “local” and “non-local” will eventually affect the Telangana natives. The government mandated students who pursued Classes 9, 10 and intermediate in Telangana to be considered as local. GO No 33 is incomplete and ambiguious. The government must amend them to favour Telangana natives,” he demanded.

The K Chandrashekhar Rao government had framed policies and got the Presidential Order amended to ensure 95 per cent government jobs to the local candidates. However, the previous government could not implement the same for the education sector due to restrictions under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act to treat Hyderabad as joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for 10 years, he said.

He said 15 per cent reservation for non-locals especially Andhra Pradesh students was continued as per the Reorganisation Act by the previous BRS government which ended on June 2 this year. “Hyderabad is not a joint capital any more since June 2 this year. Despite framing new rules to benefit maximum number of local students, the government issued GO 33. Instead of coming up with a comprehensive policy in last eight months since the Congress came to power, they came up with a set of new rules for medical admission, to define local and non-local candidates,” he pointed out.

Further, Harish Rao reminded that before Telangana’s formation, 40 percent of jobs went to non-locals. He noted that the Chandrashekhar Rao government issued GO 124 that guaranteed 95 percent of jobs would go to Telangana natives. Under the previous system, educational admissions followed a regional quota that benefited local students, which he suggested should be continued post-bifurcation as per GO No. 114.

During the BRS regime, the BRS legislator said the number of MBBS seats were increased from 2,850 to 9,000, with a 15 percent open competition quota only in existing colleges until Telangana’s formation. New colleges have given 100 percent seats to Telangana students, adding 520 additional seats. Additionally, private medical colleges allocated B category seats exclusively to local students, resulting in 1,071 seats for Telangana students in 24 colleges.

He urged the State government to develop a new comprehensive policy to ensure admissions for Telangana natives. He questioned the current GO, asking if students studying outside the State or abroad would be considered non-local for postgraduate seats.

On the State government’s “Swachchadanam-Pachchadanam” initiative from August 9, Harish Rao questioned its use in the absence of funds. He reminded that the State government did not release funds for rural local bodies for the last eight months and the gram panchayats are being run with contributions from local elected representatives and then the staff.