TS students may lose out on MBBS seats

Hyderabad: The decision of the Telangana government to reserve 100 percent seats exclusively for state students in all medical colleges which were set up only after 2014 is being questioned by the Junior Doctors’ Association. They claim that this decision of the government will affect the students who want to join the medical colleges as only 85 percent seats would be available for Telangana students in the medical colleges which were established prior to 2014.

They said the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh had issued a GO saying that all medical colleges including those which were established prior 2014 will reserve all the seats for students from Andhra Pradesh. This has made the students of Telangana are not eligible for joining medical colleges in the neighbouring state.

The junior doctors said Telangana students will be deprived of about 150 to 200 seats under different categories if AP government’s order is implemented. With medical education being a costly affair and each seat costing around Rs 2 crore to Rs 3 crore, the poor and meritorious students will be missing these seats, the junior doctors said.

JUDA president Dr Kaushik Kumar Pinjarala said they want a level-playing field for both AP and Telangana students. Giving an example, Dr Kushik Kumar said that before 2014, Gandhi Hospital in Telangana had 25 MBBS seats and the number has now gone up to 60 seats. The Telangana students will be missing out on the increased seats in AP colleges as it existed even before 2014. This hinders their chances to access higher education, said Dr Kaushik. Allotment will be starting from August 5 and if the government delays the process, Telangana students will be deprived of medical seats.

The association representatives had met Health Minister T Harish Rao and requested him to make amends. Sources said the minister had assured to look into the issue exploring possibilities whether the local reservations can be extended for the increased seats in colleges established before 2014. But the government needs to act fast as just four days are left for the admissions to begin, the JUDA adds.