Hyderabad: Norms framed for medical PG entry

Hyderabad: Justice P. Naveen Rao of the Hyderabad High Court on Saturday directed the NTR University of Health Sciences at Vijayawada in AP and Kaloji University of Health Sciences at Warangal in Telangana to insist students who secured PG Medical seats in the first round of counselling in the 15 per cent quota reserved for non-locals in both the states to opt out of the specialisation seat already allotted.

The judge ordered that if they opted for different specialisation seats available to them according to their merit in the third to fifth rounds of counselling, such earlier seats should be made available in the respective rounds of counselling.

The judge ordered both varsities to ensure that all clinical seats in all branches were made available to students to enable them to exercise options for admissions to the ensuing academic year and filled up before the counselling process was completed.

He made it clear that if any students who had already been allotted seats in Siddhartha Medical College opted out on account of securing admission in any other college/university, those seats should also be made available to all students of AP and Telangana in the next rounds of counselling.

The judge granted the above directions hearing a house motion moved by Dr M. Apoorva and six others who were challenging the ongoing web counselling through which the authorities are filling the PG medical seats available in government and private medical colleges across AP and Telangana.

Mr K.V. Simhadri, the counsel for the petitioners, told the court that as 15 per cent seats was reserved for non-locals in both the states, several private managements were using fraudulent methods to block the seats to ensure that they remained unfilled under the convener quota.

He told the court with regard to admissions in Siddhartha Medical College in Vijayawada, students from Telangana were deprived of the opportunity in the first round of counselling and urged the court to cancel the admissions.

The judge said no such order could be granted in view of the interest of students who had secured admission in Siddhartha College and posted the case after summer vacation