Andhra Pradesh amends admission rules under non-local quota, retains them for state students

NEW DELHI: The Andhra Pradeshgovernment has amended the rules for admission to higher educational institutions in the state, doing away with the 15 per cent non-local reservation and keeping it entirely for students from the state.Starting with the 2025-26 academic year, students from other states, including Telangana, cannot avail admission under the non-local quota.Under the new directives, students from Andhra Pradesh, including specific categories such as children of Central government employees, will be granted admissions to various courses including engineering, technology, pharmacy, architecture, Pharma D, business administration, computer applications, law, education and physical education."To protect the interests of the students hailing from the state of Andhra Pradesh, appropriate measures have to be taken in admission to undergraduate, post-graduate and PhD courses…," a recent government order said.The southern state previously maintained a joint admission process with Telangana, allowing students from both regions under the non-local quota for a decade following the state's division. This arrangement concluded on June 2, 2024, across all educational institutions."Upon the receipt of several representations from the parents and students to do justice to Andhra Pradesh students for admission to various courses and also to avoid the legal complications in the admission process, the government has decided to issue amendments to the admission rules," it stated.Students from Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts fall under Andhra University's jurisdiction but are considered non-local for SV University. Similarly, students from Anantapur, Kurnool, Chittoor, Kadapa and Nellore districts, while under SV University, are deemed non-local for Andhra University.The revised regulations allocate 85 per cent seats to local candidates, with 15 per cent reserved for non-local applicants.For statewide institutions not affiliated with either university but under state government control, the 85 per cent local seats are distributed between AU and SV University jurisdictions at 65.6 per cent and 34.3 per cent respectively. The remaining 15 per cent non-local quota follows the same distribution pattern as established by both universities.