HYDERABAD: A technical error has caused 150 UG medical seats from Telangana to go missing from the list released by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), which shows the All India Quota (AIQ) of seats that are to be followed by candidates who wish to apply for the first round of counselling. The disappearance has upset parents and students from the state. As per rules set by the MCC, “Candidates of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will be eligible for participation against the 15% All India Quota seats.”
However, the lack of 150 seats from the quota which has 180 seats in total has shocked students. NEET aspirants have been compelled to exercise their web option in the listed colleges for the first counselling which will conclude on June 19 and the option is for those students applying under the 15% all India quota. Out of the seven government medical colleges in the state, only Gandhi and ESI appeared on the list whereas Osmania, Kakatiya, the medical colleges at Nizamabad, Mahbubnagar, Adilabad and the newly opened college at Siddipet did not feature on the list.
Officials have reassured students that they will appear in the second list. The government medical college in Siddipet received permission from the Medical Council of India in January 2018 for a period of one year which will be renewed on a yearly basis.
Dr Ramesh Reddy, the director of medical education, Telangana, told this newspaper, “This is the first time Telangana is appearing in the national pool for UG seats. Each medical college is supposed to receive an individual password from the centre for uploading the percentage of seats available. However, it was not provided despite our colleges asking for the same repeatedly. While conducting PG counselling a few months back, the same was given.”
He further stated that Gandhi featured on the list because they used the password given to them during PG counselling but when other colleges tried to do the same, they couldn’t login so perhaps Gandhi’s password was not changed due to an oversight of the concerned office.
The director of medical education and the superintendent of Osmania Hospital will fly to Delhi on Tuesday to ensure that the seats appear in the second list, as per the state health minister’s instructions. Students and parents have been asked not to panic because the “sliding” provision is in place wherein the students can opt for the seats during the second round of counselling, if they desire to.
Dr B. Karunakar Reddy, the VC of Kaloji Narayana Rao Institute of Health Sciences says, “These seats are from the 15 per cent national quota. The rest of the seats will be filled by the state. Students need not panic as they can submit fresh options in the second round of counselling. Students allotted seats in the first round will not be stopped from doing so.”
The second round of counselling will begin on July 3. Only 195 government medical colleges have featured in the list across the country instead of 225 colleges. Out of the 30 colleges missing in the list, six are in Telangana and two in AP. Anantapuram Government Medical College and Ongole RIMS are missing from the AP list. “The names of the colleges will definitely appear on the second list and the meritorious students can then exercise their options again,” says Dr Karunakar.
