Hyderabad, July 24: In a development that could affect the ongoing counselling process for admission to medical colleges, the High Court on Thursday stayed the State Government’s decision to hike management quota in medical colleges from 30 to 40 per cent (Category C).
Justice G Rohini passed the order on a writ petition filed by a girl student who challenged the GO on the ground that it has cut into seats that would have otherwise been available under Category B (filled by the management but on the basis of merit). The management seats under Category C are filled irrespective of merit and carry the highest fee. It is the quota under this category that has been increased from 30 to 40 per cent and consequently, Category B quota has dropped from 20 to 10 per cent.
Officials of the NTR University of Health Sciences, the nodal agency for admission to medical colleges, are, however, not clear as yet on how to go about with the counselling process in the wake of the HC stay. The admission process for Open Category was over on July 22 while the counselling for BC, SC and ST category seats began on Thursday. By implication, the stay order meant that the admission has to be done as per the previous year’s guidelines.
This means that the pecentage of seats under Category B would be 20 and not 10 and that of Category C would only be 30 instead of 40. Here is a catch. Many students have already decided on an alternative as they could not manage a seat in the course or college of their choice following the reduction in Category B seats. ‘‘I missed MBBS by sixty odd ranks in the OU region and with no choice left, I opted for BDS course. If the previous rules are applicable, I will surely get an MBBS seat in the B category based on merit,’’ said C Sumanth, a student.
What is also not clear is whether the university would be compelled to reschedule counselling or take up the whole process afresh.
–Agencies–