The Junior Doctors’ Association (JUDA) in Hyderabad is calling for immediate changes to the rules regarding seat reservations in medical colleges. The Telangana government recently announced that 100 percent of seats in medical colleges established after 2014 would be reserved exclusively for students from the state. However, JUDA argues that this decision will negatively impact students who wish to join medical colleges, as only 85 percent of seats would be available for Telangana students in colleges established before 2014.
JUDA points out that the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh has issued a government order reserving all seats in medical colleges, including those established before 2014, for students from Andhra Pradesh. This means that students from Telangana are not eligible to join medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh.
The junior doctors estimate that if the Andhra Pradesh government’s order is implemented, Telangana students will be deprived of around 150 to 200 seats across different categories. This is a significant loss for economically disadvantaged and high-achieving students, as each seat in medical colleges costs between Rs 2 crore and Rs 3 crore.
JUDA’s president, Dr. Kaushik Kumar Pinjarala, emphasizes the need for a level playing field for both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana students. He gives an example of Gandhi Hospital, which had 25 MBBS seats before 2014 and now has 60 seats. Telangana students will miss out on these additional seats in Andhra Pradesh colleges because they existed before 2014. This limits their access to higher education opportunities.
JUDA representatives have met with Health Minister T Harish Rao to discuss the issue and requested amendments to the rules. The minister has reportedly promised to examine possibilities for extending local reservations to the increased seats in colleges established before 2014. However, time is running out, as admissions are set to begin in just four days. The government needs to act quickly to address this concern raised by JUDA.
