Harish Rao
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A controversy has erupted over the Telangana government’s recent order that classified students who have studied in the State for at least four consecutive academic years as locals will be eligible for admissions in MBBS and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) programmes.
The order, dated July 19 and released by the Health, Medical, and Family Welfare department, states, “If a candidate has studied in educational institutions in such a local area for a period of not less than four consecutive academic years ending with the academic year in which the candidate has appeared or, as the case may be, first appeared in the relevant qualifying examination.”
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Siddipet MLA and former Health Minister T. Harish Rao criticised the order. “The recent GO is being implemented in a state with 15 doctors serving as MLAs. According to the order, if a person studies intermediate in Guntur or elsewhere or completes MBBS at AIIMS or JIPMER, he or she is automatically considered non-local to Telangana.”
Harish Rao further stated, “What is worse is that persons from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, or Gujarat study here for four years, they become locals and can pursue their MBBS or BDS here.”
In response, Minister for Health C. Damodar Raja Narasimha posted on X, “The previous BRS government released G.O. 114 in July 2017, which had similar provisions. The current government is merely continuing these existing provisions.”
