Telangana NEET-2024 candidates demand rollback of GO for MBBS/BDS seats

NEET-qualified students from five districts in Telangana—Khammam, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Warangal, and Hyderabad—face greatly reduced chances of securing MBBS/BDS seats in government medical colleges. According to GO-33, these students, despite being born in Telangana, will now be classified as non-locals.

Hyderabad: The NEET-2024 eligible candidates from Telangana State, who were looking forward to secure MBBS seats in government medical colleges of their choice during this year’s MBBS/BDS counselling, along with their parents on Thursday demanded that the State government immediately roll back Government Order (GO Ms No 33) and do justice to them.

The chances of securing an MBBS/BDS seat in government medical colleges in Telangana State has greatly diminished for NEET qualified students from five districts including Khammam, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Warangal and Hyderabad, who were born in Telangana but according to GO-33 will now be considered as non-locals, they said.

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Parents along with eligible candidates from Telangana Medical Students Parents Association (TMSPA) said it is painful to witness their own children being treated as non-locals. “Because of GO-33, the future of anywhere between 400 and 500 students from five districts in Telangana is at stake. Although they were born in Telangana State, they chose to pursue Class 10 and intermediate first and second year and MBBS coaching in Guntur and Vijayawada. As a result, they are now being treated as non-locals,” says president, Telangana Medical Students Parents Association (TMSPA), D Ravi Prasad.

According to the new amendment in GO-33, students who completed Class 9, 10, 11 and 12 without any break are eligible to be considered as locals in their domicile status. In contrast, till last year (before the amendment to GO-33), students who pursued their education in Telangana State without a break for a maximum of 4 years between Class 6 and 12 were considered as local students.

As a result of the earlier eligibility rule, a large number of families from districts such as Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar, Khammam and even Hyderabad chose to send their children to Vijayawada for Class 10, intermediate first and second year and NEET entrance coaching. According to the new amendment, these students, although born in Telangana, are now not eligible to participate in the counselling process.

To garner support for their cause, the parents and MBBS/BDS aspirants met former State Health Minister, T Harish Rao on Thursday and sought his intervention in convincing the State government to roll back the Government Order.

“There is an urgent need for the State government to prepare a fool-proof domicile policy for local students of Telangana. Senior health officials and Chief Secretary must quickly form a high-level committee and try to understand the impact of this issue and come-out with fresh guidelines on domicile status for MBBS/BDS counselling in Telangana,” State Health Minister, T Harish Rao demanded, after meeting the protesting students and their aspirants.