Telangana HC orders children of central staff treated as locals for medical admissions

The Telangana High Court has directed that children of central government employees be treated as local candidates for MBBS and BDS admissions, pending a formal amendment to state rules. The order came on a petition by Kodimela Samhitha, a NEET-UG 2026 qualifier whose father, an ESIC employee, was transferred outside Telangana between 2016 and 2024, forcing her to study in Andhra Pradesh. The existing rules exempted children of state government employees, All India Service officers, defence personnel, and state corporation employees from the requirement of four consecutive years of study in Telangana, but excluded central government employees.

A bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin found this exclusion arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution. The New Indian Express reports the court directed that the existing proviso be read to include children of central government employees, central government corporations, and central PSUs. The Times of India notes the state government's counsel acknowledged the exemption's logic should apply to central employees and said a rule amendment was under consideration. The court declared Samhitha a local candidate and allowed her to participate in the ongoing 2026-27 counselling process.