PG medical seats reserved for disabled ‘vanish’in Telangana

HYDERABAD: With more than half of the seats reserved for physically-challenged students in the first phase of counselling missing in the second phase, disabled postgraduate medical aspirants are shocked.
They said that only two disabled students got the seats of their choice and took admission in the first phase of counselling.

PG medical seat admission process in government and private colleges under the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) for 2022-23 is underway. The seat matrix for first phase counselling was released by the university last week.

As many as 21 seats were kept reserved for disabled students in general medicine, paediatrics, anaesthesia, general surgery etc in private and government colleges like Osmania Medical College (OMC), NIMS, Prathima, Mediciti, Mamatha and others. However, only two seats, one in general medicine and the other in radiology in NIMS were allotted to a disabled student.

“The university issued the second phase seat matrix late on Friday,” said a disabled student who wanted a seat in dermatology or ophthalmology in OMC. However, both these seats were missing from the matrix. When checked, he found a lot of other seats also missing from the matrix.

Only eight seats, two for anaesthesia in NIMS and Prathima, one for general surgery in MNRS, one for Orthology in Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, one gynaecology in OMC and two in KMC (gynaecology and paediatrics) and two in Mamata Medical College (psychiatrist and ophthalmology) were available in second phase matrix.

“We had time to fill the form for the second phase from 8 am on Saturday to 1 pm on Sunday,” the student said. He tried reaching the KNRUHS but to no avail. “I tried on Monday as well. However, the phone was either switched off or busy,” he said.

Two other disabled PG aspirants who wanted seats in radiology and dermatology had the same complaint. As the seats were not available students gave preferences to those available. Only five disabled students got a seat. Disabled students could not fill the form in the first phase counselling due to high NEET PG cut off and were eligible for the second round.