Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday, December 17, struck down government orders reserving postgraduate medical seats for local students.
A bench of chief justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Rao declared as ‘bad’ the state govt’s GOs 148 and 149, issued on October 28 as per which only those who studied medical courses in Telangana under local quota would be treated as local candidates in PG medical admissions and not those who have studied in Telangana under non-local quota.
Disposing of a batch of nearly 100 petitions that challenged the government’s action in amending the rules in October, the bench said that all those who completed MBBS in Telangana were entitled to compete for 2024-25 PG medical seats as local candidates.
Agreeing with senior counsel G Vidya Sagar who argued that Presidential Order 1974 was very much in force in Telangana’s education sector even after the bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh and that the state’s amended rules cannot change the mandate of the Presidential Order, the bench said that in case of a conflict between them, the Presidential Order would prevail.
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Telangana had amended the rules of medical admissions and brought in explanation (b) to Rule VIII (ii) of Telangana Medical Colleges (admission into PG medical courses) Rules, 2021, as amended by GO 148 and explanation (b) to Rule 8 (ii) of the Telangana Admission into PG (AYUSH) Courses Rules issued GO 149. The govt said the objective of these GOs was to help local candidates.
However, the bench said that since the Presidential Order defines those who studied the qualifying course (MBBS) in Telangana as local candidates, they would be eligible to compete for the PG medical seats meant for local candidates.
Telangana health min Raja Narsimha reacts to HC verdict
Reacting to the High Court’s verdict striking down the GO 148, Telangana health minister C Damodar Raja Narasimha on Wednesday said that the government was committed to upholding the rights of the local students.
In a post X, Narasimha explained, “We have brought these GOs to ensure that students who studied under the 15 percent unreserved quota in Telangana medical colleges and non-locals are not considered eligible for local quota in PG admissions. This reform has been made only to do justice to Telangana students and not to harm their interests.”
The health minister further expressed concern over misinterpretation of the High Court’s verdict. “Some are twisting the court’s directive to provide opportunities to non-locals. They are misrepresenting the verdict as a victory for Telangana students,” he said, urging students and parents not to believe such narratives.”
He assured that the govt would study the court verdict thoroughly and take necessary steps to ensure that PG seats are reserved for local students.
