Hyderabad: Cautioning that Telangana students could be considered as non-locals in their own state due to GO 33 issued by the Medical Education Department for admissions to MBBS, former health minister T Harish Rao demanded the state government to call for an all-party meeting on the issue. He also sought to amend GO 33 after constituting a committee on the issue.
“The state government’s handling of affairs is like a bull in a china shop—there is no clarity on any issue, and there is no consideration for the future of the students,” Harish Rao said while addressing the media on Wednesday. The former Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) minister added that according to the bifurcation (of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh) law, admissions in educational institutions were supposed to maintain a 15% open competition for ten years following the old method from the unified state.
Harish Rao pointed out that in 1979, GO 644 established local status for educational admissions for Andhra, Telangana, and Rayalaseema, preventing non-local students from gaining opportunities in these areas.
“Following the state’s bifurcation in 2014, it was specified in GO 124 that the old rules should continue for ten years based on the presidential order. Before 2014, 40% of jobs were secured by non-locals, but now 95% of jobs are allocated to Telangana residents, thanks to GO 124,” Harish Rao said.
“The 15% open competition quota was only implemented in colleges that existed before the formation of Telangana. In the newly established colleges, 100% of the seats were allocated to Telangana students, which resulted in an additional 520 seats for our students,” the ex-Telangana minister pointed out.
He said that under former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s government under the BRS, MBBS seats in Telangana had increased from 2,850 to 9,000. Harish Rao stated that the former BRS government brought a GO to ensure that seats in the B category in private medical colleges were given to local students, resulting in 1,071 seats in 24 colleges reserved only for Telangana students.
“We undertook these measures with the desire to see our students become doctors. Anyways, the continuation of old provisions under the bifurcation law has expired in 2024. Now, we must develop a comprehensive new policy to ensure local status for admissions,” he added.
According to him, GO 33 states that students will be considered locals if they have studied for four years in one place (in Telangana) prior to Intermediate, while the old rule had required a minimum of seven years of study to be considered as locals.
“Under this new regulation, wouldn’t Telangana students who study Intermediate for two years in another state or go for long-term coaching become non-locals? Our Telangana students are pursuing MBBS in other states and countries. Wouldn’t they be considered non-locals for PG seats under this new regulation,” Harish wondered.
He opined that like Tamil Nadu, rules needed to be framed such that to secure an MBBS seat, one must have studied there from grades sixth to tenth, with parents having permanent residence there. “Since Hyderabad was a joint capital for ten years, we continued the old method as per the parliamentary law. Even though the ten-year period has ended, why is the state government still continuing the old method,” he asked.
Urging the State government to act swiftly, harish said that BRS leaders were ready to provide suggestions if an all-party meeting was called on this issue.
“The Congress government is as fragile as a candle in the wind. What are the officials of the Medical Education Department doing,” he sought to know. “The government must form a committee immediately. We request amendments to the GO 33 to protect the future of Telangana students,” he said.
