NEET-UG: Central govt staff’s children to get ‘local’ status for MBBS admissions, says court

“If exceptions can be carved out for those categories, then is no justifiable reason for excluding the Central Government employees posted outside of State of Telangana and their children from availing benefit of the said exception so carved out,” the court said on August 17.

Samhitha was born in Hyderabad on February 8, 2008, and claimed to be a permanent resident of the city. She qualified NEET-UG 2026 with 385 marks out of 720 and secured an All-India Rank of 310339 in the general category.

Father’s transfer

Samhitha’s father is an employee of the ESIC, a corporation under the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India. He joined the service on September 9, 1997, and served at different places in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The family was residing in Hyderabad, but he was transferred to Tirupati with effect from December 15, 2016. He remained there until May 21, 2024, before being transferred back to Hyderabad on May 22, 2024.

Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G M Mohiuddin directed the state to issue the necessary clarification to include central government employees within the exception.

Samhitha studied till Class 4 in Hyderabad. Following her father’s transfer, she studied till Class 10 in Tirupati, between 2017 and 2023, and then pursued intermediate in the same place from 2023 to 2025.

Due to this, she could not complete the required four consecutive academic years of study in Telangana. However, a nativity certificate issued by government officials of Hyderabad on July 17 recorded that her father was a native of Telangana and that the reason for her education outside the state was his official transfer.

Excluded from local candidature

Under Rule 3(a)(iii) of the Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Rules, candidates seeking admission under the ‘Competent Authority Quota’ generally have to satisfy prescribed requirements relating to study or residence in Telangana.

The rules provide exceptions for candidates who studied outside the state because of certain categories of parents’ government service. These include children of Telangana state government employees who served outside the state, children of Telangana-cadre All India Services officers, certain defence personnel and ex-servicemen, and children of employees of Telangana government corporations, agencies or instrumentalities liable to transfer anywhere in India.

Samhitha did not fall within those categories because her father was an ESIC employee, a central government corporation. She was not being treated as a local candidate despite her education outside Telangana having followed her father’s official transfer.

Her counsel argued that there was no rational basis for distinguishing between children of state government employees and children of central government employees when the educational hardship caused by an official transfer was the same. The counsel also argued that the classification was arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 (right to equality) and 15 (prohibition of discrimination) of the Constitution.

State agrees to expand exception

Telangana Advocate General A Sudershan Reddy, appearing for the state, told the court that the proviso was framed following a Supreme Court judgment on September 1, 2025, and initially covered only categories directly linked to the state government.

The state, however, acknowledged that the rationale behind the exception protecting children compelled to study outside Telangana because of their parents’ official transfers could also apply to children of central government employees. The advocate general assured the court that the issue was under active consideration and that an appropriate amendment or clarification was likely to be issued.

Following this, the bench did not finally decide the constitutional challenge, stating that it “does not deem it necessary to adjudicate upon the constitutional validity of the impugned Government Order at this stage” and took a “purposive and constructive approach” to prevent hardship to the petitioner and similarly situated candidates as the proposed amendment was being finalised.

Local status for NEET qualifier

The court directed that, pending a formal amendment, the exception under Rule 3(a)(iii) be read to include children of central government employees, central government corporations and central public sector undertakings who have served or are serving outside Telangana. The benefit is to operate on the same terms and conditions applicable to children of Telangana state government employees.

The high court directed Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences to treat Samhitha as a “local candidate” for MBBS and BDS admissions for the 2026-27 academic year under the ‘Competent Authority Quota’ and allow her to participate in the ongoing counselling process.

The state was also directed to expeditiously finalise and issue the necessary clarification or formal amendment to include central government employees, central government corporations and central public sector undertakings within the exception.