HC Issues Notice to Telangana Govt, NMC over Reservation of 100 percent MBBS, BDS seats under convener quota only to State Candidates
Telangana High Court
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court bench has issued notices to the State Government and others after considering a plea challenging the reservation of 100% MBBS/BDS seats under the convener quota only to the students belonging to Telangana.
A Division bench of HC comprising Acting Chief Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili and Justice Namavarapu Rajeshwar Rao was considering the plea filed by a resident of Andhra Pradesh and his daughter.
The petitioner, whose daughter appeared for NEET 2023 examination, contended that reserving the medical seats exclusively to the students of Telangana was illegal and arbitrary.
Referring to the fact that his daughter intended to appear for counselling in Telangana, the petitioner urged the Court to stall operation of GO Ms. No. 72 through which the Government amended the reservation rules and introduced the provision for 100% reservation of seats in medical colleges in Telangana to students hailing from the State.
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As per the latest media report by The Hindu, the HC bench directed the State and Central Governments along with the Director of Medical Education Telangana, the National Medical Commission (NMC) and Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences to file counter affidavits within a period of four weeks.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that Telangana Government stopped the 15% unreserved quota for admissions in 36 medical colleges in the State, which were established after the formation of the new State of Telangana.
Earlier, these seats were open for the admission of students from the neighbouring State of Andhra Pradesh as well. However, recently the State issued orders and made 100% of seats available only for the State domicile students.
Issuing a Government Order, recently Secretary of Medical and Health, Sam Rizvi amended the rules of admission to the State medical colleges in Telangana. The order stated, “These amendments have been made in accordance with the AP Reorganization Act and Article 371D of the Constitution.”
According to the amended rules, all the medical seats in the competitive authority quota in medical colleges constituted after June 2, 2014, will be filled up exclusively by the students from the State
Referring to this decision, State Medical and Health Minister T Harish Rao recently said that the students of Telangana will now have a greater chance of securing MBBS seats.
However, it was decided that the unreserved quota will continue at the medical colleges that existed before the formation of the State of Telangana on June 2, 2014. There are 20 such colleges in the State and the provision of 15% unreserved quota will continue to operate there, enabling the students from Andhra Pradesh also compete for admission.
The new reservation policy has now been challenged before the Telangana High Court. As per the latest media report by Deccan Chronicle, the petitioner argued that the GO was highly arbitrary, irregular and it violated Section 95 and other provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Arguing that the order infringed upon Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution, the petitioner further argued that the reservation policy was seen as discriminatory. It was contended by the petitioner that the unilateral decision taken by the Telangana Government showed a complete disregard for the principles of fairness, equality, and merit and it further denied students like the petitioner an equal opportunity for pursuing their chosen profession based on their hard work and academic performance.
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