BC Welfare Association urges Telangana to restore G.O. 550 for MBBS admissions
Hyderabad, July 25 (TNT): The National BC Welfare Association on Saturday alleged that recent changes in the MBBS counselling process in Telangana have adversely affected students belonging to the Backward Classes (BC), Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), and urged the State government to restore the earlier admission policy under G.O. No. 550.
A delegation led by Rajya Sabha MP and National BC Welfare Association president R. Krishnaiah met Health Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha and sought withdrawal of G.O. No. 114, requesting that MBBS counselling be conducted under G.O. No. 550, which, it said, had been followed for nearly 24 years.
The association alleged that implementation of the new government order could deprive 300 to 400 BC, SC and ST students of MBBS seats.
According to the delegation, the Supreme Court had directed last year that admissions be conducted under the earlier G.O. No. 550 after the matter was challenged.
However, it alleged that while the Health University claims to be following the court’s directions, the spirit of the earlier government order is not being implemented.
The association contended that candidates from reserved categories who secure admission on merit under the Open Competition (OC) category should not be counted against the reservation quota.
It alleged that treating such candidates as part of the reserved quota reduces the number of seats available to eligible BC, SC and ST students.
It further claimed that the present system has resulted in 300 to 400 reserved category students losing MBBS seats every year.
The delegation cited recommendations of the Mandal Commission, Government of India guidelines issued in 1990 and 1993, and the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench judgment in the Ritesh R. Sah case, all of which, it said, support the principle that reserved category candidates selected on merit should be treated as Open Competition candidates without affecting reservation quotas.
The association also alleged that Andhra Pradesh continues to follow the provisions of G.O. No. 550 while ensuring that reserved category students are not disadvantaged, and urged Telangana to adopt a similar approach.
The delegation requested the Health Minister to restore G.O. No. 550 in its original form and convene a high-level meeting involving officials from the BC, SC and ST Welfare Departments, government representatives and welfare organisations to resolve the issue.
Responding to the representations, Health Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha reportedly assured the delegation that the government would examine the matter and ensure fair implementation of reservation policies.
He said a high-level meeting would be convened shortly to review the issue and indicated that the government would move towards implementing the provisions of the earlier G.O. No. 550.
The delegation included State BC Welfare Association Working President Neela Venkatesh, BC Castes Joint Action Forum President Ananthaiah, State BC Welfare Association President C. Rajender, and association leaders Prithvi Goud, Shiv Kumar Yadav, Balaram and Vamsi, among others.
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