Physically handicapped post graduate medical aspirants in Telangana complained that more than half of the seats reserved for those who are handicapped in the first phase of counselling were missing in the second phase of counselling; only two handicapped students got the admission. Some students even lost their chance of getting a seat in the department and college they want to study in due to the discrepancies, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.

The process for PG medical seat admissions in the government and private colleges under the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) for the 2022-23 has been initiated. The seat matrix for first phase counselling was released by the university last week. Approximately 21 seats were kept reserved for physically handicapped (PHO) category in clinical departments such as General Medicine, Pediatrics, Anesthesia, General Surgery and Orthology among others, as per TNIE. Seats were available in different private and government colleges across the state including Osmania Medical College (OMC), Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Prathima, Mediciti, Mamatha and many more.

Seats go missing
Only two seats, one in General Medicine and the other in Radiology in NIMS, were allotted to PHO. "The university issued the second phase seat matrix late on Friday (November 4) evening," said a handicapped medical student who wanted to get a seat either for Dermatology or Ophthalmology in Osmania Medical College. Both of the seats were missing from the matrix. When checked, he found a lot of other seats missing from the matrix.

Only eight seats, two for Anesthesia in NIMS and Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences, one for General Surgery in MNR, one for Orthology in Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, one for Gynecology in Osmania Medical College and two in Kakatiya Medical College for Gynecology and Pediatrics and two in Mamata Medical College for Psychiatrist and Ophthalmology, were available in second phase matrix. "The students had time to fill the form for the second phase from 8 am on Saturday (November 5) to 1 pm on Sunday (November 6)," the student said. He tried to reach university authorities through the contact numbers provided in the prospectus and website but couldn't reach them. "I tried on Monday as well. However, the phone was either switched off or busy," he added, as per TNIE.

Two other handicapped PG aspirants shared the same tale who wanted seats in Radiology and Dermatology. As the seats were not available, students chose preferences according to what was available in the second seat matrix. However, only five students from the PHO category got a seat. These students who come under PHO category could not fill the form in the first phase counselling due to high NEET PG cut off. They became eligible for the second round when the cut off was reduced.