KNRUHS cancels ST reservation benefits for 37 MBBS, BDS candidates

KNRUHS has withdrawn ST reservation benefits for 37 MBBS and BDS candidates after Tribal Welfare authorities found them ineligible under migration rules. Nine candidates who received provisional MBBS seats in earlier counselling rounds will have their allotments cancelled and seats included in the mop-up phase.

Hyderabad: The Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) has issued a directive related to MBBS admissions for the academic year 2026–27, canceling the Scheduled Tribe (ST) reservation benefits and specific provisional seat allotments for 37 candidates.

The action follows official communications and verification reports from the Director of Tribal Welfare, pointing to migration rules that disqualify these applicants from claiming local ST reservation benefits.
Under the directive, a total of 37 applicants evaluated under the Competent Authority Quota for MBBS and BDS courses have been deemed ineligible for ST category benefits and will henceforth be considered under the Open Category subject to their merit and eligibility.

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Out of these candidates, nine individuals had already been conditionally allotted MBBS seats during the first and second phases of counselling in various medical institutions, and these specific seat allotments have been formally cancelled, KNRUHS notification said. The affected candidates will now be treated as Open Category candidates for subsequent phases of counselling.

The university confirmed that the cancelled seats will be treated as vacant and included in the Third Phase or Mop-Up Phase of counselling for allotment to eligible candidates based on merit under the ST category.

The Tribal Welfare Department’s investigation disqualified these candidates based on legal precedents, including Supreme Court rulings related to interstate migration from states like Karnataka and Maharashtra, as well as High Court rulings concerning individuals who migrated from Andhra Pradesh before bifurcation, as reservation benefits remain linked to their state of origin rather than the state of migration, the notification said.