Hyderabad: Telangana has finally achieved clarity on the issue of allocating seats to local candidates this year — a matter that kept both the government and students on the edge last year.
Before bifurcation, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh had an arrangement where each state allocated 15 per cent of seats from their Competent Authority quota to students from the other state. This arrangement was supposed to end after 10 years from the bifurcation, which ended last year.
However, in practice, students from Telangana did not benefit from this reciprocal arrangement, as they were unable to secure seats in Andhra Pradesh due to lower scores. Meanwhile, students from Andhra Pradesh continued to claim seats in Telangana, which led to significant pressure from Telangana students last year to enforce the 10-year rule and reserve all seats for local candidates.
The exit of long-standing vice chancellor Dr Karunakar Reddy, whose last-minute and unilateral decisions created legal tangles, causing agony to students, and his replacement with Dr P.V. Nanda Kumar Reddy are expected to bring some positive changes.
Compounding the issue was the debate over the definition of “locality.” After prolonged court proceedings, the Supreme Court ruled that the state had a legitimate interest in enforcing a domicile quota. The state defined students who had studied in Telangana for at least four consecutive years up to Class 12 before taking the NEET as local candidates.
However, this benefit initially applied only to the petitioners who had moved the Supreme Court. This year marks the first time that all eligible students will be able to avail this benefit. The matter of whether the four-year period should be consecutive or refer to any duration in the education of the candidate should be considered for the locality benefit is still in the Supreme Court, and the state is yet to submit its rationale in this regard.
Another significant development this year was the notable increase in high-scoring candidates from reserved categories in the NEET UG exam, raising questions about whether they could be allotted general category seats. If so, what would happen to the reserved category seats vacated by them?
Addressing this concern, Vengala Ishwariah, former chairman of the National Backward Classes Commission and former judge of the combined Andhra Pradesh High Court, explained: “A more meritorious student from a reserved category cannot be denied the opportunity to move into the open category. If such a student secures a general seat, the seat vacated in the reserved category will be filled by the next eligible student from the same category, based on merit.”
He further clarified: “In subsequent counselling sessions, if the student opts for a better college under the reserved category, the general category seat he vacates will again be filled by a student from his own category. The principle here is that a reserved category student moving into the open category and then switching back should not disadvantage other reserved candidates. Therefore, the vacated seat will be filled by another student from the same reserved category, based on merit.”
He added that this policy was being followed in the state for undergraduate medical admissions, where college preference is the main consideration. However, the situation is more complex in postgraduate admissions, where speciality choice plays a crucial role. In many cases, open category students end up occupying reserved category seats in high-demand specialties like General Medicine, leaving reserved category students at a disadvantage.
“Despite meeting the health minister and highlighting that this policy is implemented in other states, including Andhra Pradesh, there is still no clarity on whether it will be adopted for PG admissions in Telangana,” the former judge said.