Bhadrachalam student faces non-local hurdle in NEET admissions
BHADRACHALAM: Students in Bhadrachalam continue to face admission hurdles after the formation of Telangana. A NEET-2025 candidate from the town was marked as a “non-local” during state counselling despite securing eligibility for MBBS admission.
Garnepalli Sai Ritika, a resident of Bhadrachalam in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, scored 498 marks in NEET-2025. She secured an All-India rank of 1,41,256 and Telangana rank of 2,538. However, during registration for MBBS counselling in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, her status was shown as “non-local,” leaving her family distressed.
Ritika’s family has been living in Bhadrachalam for four decades. Her father, Ashok Kumar, runs a business. Ritika studied till Class 10 in Purushottamapattnam, now in Alluri district of Andhra Pradesh, and completed her Intermediate in a private junior college in Bachupally, Hyderabad.
After Telangana’s formation in 2014, seven mandals, including Yetapaka, were merged into Andhra Pradesh as Polavaram project submergence areas. Purushottamapattnam falls under Yetapaka mandal, which has led to complications in domicile status.
“Although my daughter qualified for admission under the convener’s quota through her NEET rank, she is being treated as a non-local during counselling. This has caused us serious loss,” Ashok Kumar told reporters. He added that while Andhra Pradesh reserves 15% of medical seats for non-local students, Telangana has no such provision.
Local MLA Tellam Venkata Rao raised the issue with Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, requesting him to allow Bhadrachalam students under Telangana’s local quota on humanitarian grounds through Government Order 33. Ashok Kumar also appealed to the Chief Minister for justice for his daughter.
