The Supreme Court on Wednesday faulted the Telangana government’s domicile policy, which mandates a student to have pursued Classes 9 to 12 in the state to be eligible for admission to state quota medical seats through NEET, and said it was far removed from the ground reality.

The Supreme Court said many students move to places like Kota for better coaching in Classes 11 and 12, and they should not be denied Telangana state quota medical seats just because they studied outside the state. The bench added that students whose parents are residents of Telangana should be allowed to apply under the state quota, no matter where they completed their schooling. The court also warned the government to fix the issue, or it would step in.

Appearing for students facing the domicile bar despite their parents being born in Telangana and continuously residing in the state, advocate Raghenth Basant told the bench that it had created a piquant situation.

He pointed out that a child of someone from Kerala, who has lived in Telangana for just four years and studied Classes 9 to 12 there, would qualify for state quota medical seats. However, students whose parents are long-time residents of Telangana but who studied outside the state would be denied the same opportunity.

He urged the court to modify the domicile criteria by allowing children of every resident of Telangana, irrespective of where they completed their schooling, to get admitted to medical colleges under state quota seats. The SC posted the matter for further hearing on July 29, by when the Telangana government will have to come up with an answer to the court’s query.

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