Hyderabad, July 16: The issue of not according “minority status” to two medical colleges has led to a tussle between the minority colleges and the state government.
The state government has not granted the mandatory No Objection Certificate to Shadan Medical College and Dr V.R.K. Women’s Medical College, which would allow them to get minority status. This, even when the colleges have got approval from the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, a quasi-judicial body set up by an Act of Parliament. While the college managements argue that the “non-minority status” will deprive minority students of their share of MBBS seats, the government’s contention is that the colleges have not admitted the stipulated number of minority students during the previous academic year, and hence they should not be accorded minority status this year.
There are allegations that the minority colleges have been selling MBBS seats for more than `50 lakh to non-minority students in the management quota, accounting for 40 per cent of total seats. Existing government orders require minority colleges to fill 70 per cent of their seats with minority students. But there are complaints that most of these institutions are not following this rule and are diverting seats to “non-minority” students by collecting huge amount as donations and capitation fee. They claim there are not enough qualified minority students. With Eamcet medical counselling scheduled to begin from July 19, the uncertainty over the minority status of these two medical colleges has become a cause of concern for students and parents.