Hyderabad: The state govt on Saturday approved 85% local reservation in post-graduate (PG) management quota–1 (MQ–1) seats in private medical colleges, marking a major policy change to benefit Telangana students. A GO formalising the 85% local quota is expected to be released soon.The decision is expected to benefit local students as 318 PG medical seats and 70 PG dental seats would now be reserved for Telangana medicos. Until now, nearly 60% of these seats were being filled by non-local candidates.Until now, MQ–1 seats were open under the all India category, allowing candidates from across the country to apply. With the new policy, 85% of these seats would now be reserved for Telangana students, while the remaining 15% would continue to be open to all India candidates.The decision fulfils a decade-long demand from Telangana’s medical fraternity. For years, local students and doctors sought a fair share in PG medical admissions, pointing to the limited govt quota seats and the heavy fee in private colleges.The move is expected to give Telangana’s medical graduates better access to post-graduate education and strengthen the state’s healthcare system by ensuring that more doctors trained in Telangana continue to serve locally.On the occasion, health minister Damodar Rajanarasimha said that it was a historic and long-awaited decision that fulfils the dreams of thousands of Telangana medicos. The Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA), which raised the cause, welcomed the move along with the Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T-JUDA).
