Telangana medical seat surge: 85% reservation for local PG aspirants

Hyderabad: Telangana'sPG medical sector is undergoing a significant expansion and policy overhaul, securing a substantial win for local students. The Postgraduate seats in the state's government medical colleges have increased from 1,191 to 1,266, an addition of 75 new seats granted by the National Medical Commission.

This approval was based on enhanced facilities in government medical colleges and also saw new PG seats sanctioned for newly established medical institutions. The NMC's orders confirm that admissions for these additional seats will commence this academic year, a developmentofficials believe will lead to the provision of better quality medical services across hospitals.

Specific colleges that received permission for more PG seats include: Osmania Medical College four in hospital administration; GMC Nizamabad eight, with four each in DVL and Paediatrics; GMC Mahabubnagar two each in ENT and Orthopaedics; GMC Siddipet four each in Radiology and Orthopaedics; GMC Suryapet four each in Anaesthesia, Pathology, Paediatrics and Respiratory Medicine; GMC Nalgonda four ENT, three OBGYN, four Anaesthesia, four in Orthopaedics and four in Paediatrics; and SIMS Ramagundam four each in Emergency Medicine, Biochemistry, OBYGN and Orthopaedics.

For the academic year 2025–26, Telangana will possess 31 PG Medical Colleges offering a total of 2,983 seats, comprising 12 Government colleges with 1,472 seats and 19 Private Colleges with 1,511 seats. The seat allocation in Government colleges follows a 50 per cent split between the AIQand the CAQ. In private colleges, 50 per cent of seats fall under the CAQ, with the remaining 50 per cent allocated to the Management Quota MQ. Out of the 741 total PG Medical Management Quota seats, 374 belong to the Management Quota–1 MQ–1category.

The Telangana Government, in a landmark decision taken on Saturday, approved the reservation of 85 per cent of these MQ–1 seats in private medical colleges for local Telangana students. This policy translates to 318 seats being reserved for local candidates, with only 56 seats (15 per cent) remaining open to candidates from across India. This major policy shift, which overturns the previous system where MQ–1 seats were filled under the All India category, was initiated by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy following a representation from Health Minister C Damodar Raja Narasimha.

It addresses a long-pending, decade-old demand from Telangana’s medical community, who have consistently sought justice in PG medical admissions due to the limited number of government quota seats and the high fees associated with private colleges.

The Chief Minister's approval led to an immediate directive to the Health Secretary to issue the necessary Government Orders. This policy is set to benefit approximately 318 PG Medical seats and 70 PG Dental seats every year, which will now be exclusively available to Telangana students, reversing a trend where nearly 60 per cent of these seats were historically taken by non-local candidates.

This proactive measure is expected to greatly benefit Telangana’s medical graduates, provide them with enhanced postgraduate opportunities, and strengthen the state’s healthcare system by ensuring that a larger number of doctors trained in Telangana are retained to serve within the State.

DamodarRajanarasimha welcomed the decision, stating that it is a "historic and long-awaited decision that fulfils the dreams of thousands of Telangana medicos," and thanked Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for taking this pro-student, pro-Telangana move that will empower future medical specialists.