In a letter to the Union Minister, Vinod Kumar said the NEET-PG examination conducted on Sunday had once again highlighted concerns among medical graduates and students in Telangana over the allocation of postgraduate medical seats under the AIQ. He pointed out that while 15 per cent of eligible State government MBBS seats are allocated to the AIQ, the share rises to 50 per cent at the postgraduate level.

The BRS leader said the issue was particularly significant for Telangana, where the State government had made substantial investments in medical education since the formation of Telangana in 2014. New government medical colleges were established across districts, significantly expanding both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education.

He said the expansion of PG seats was aimed not only at increasing the national pool of specialists but also at meeting Telangana's growing healthcare needs, particularly in government hospitals and rural and semi-urban areas. Medical graduates from the State, therefore, legitimately expect a substantial proportion of seats created through public investment to remain available to local candidates, subject to merit and constitutional provisions.

"The present 50 per cent AIQ at the postgraduate level appears disproportionately high when compared with the 15 per cent AIQ at the undergraduate level," Vinod Kumar said. He added that PG seats were highly specialised and limited, and States investing heavily in medical infrastructure should be able to retain a larger share to strengthen their specialist healthcare systems.

He also urged the Union Health Ministry to undertake a State-wise analysis of the AIQ system, covering the number of government PG seats contributed by each State, the number of students securing PG seats through AIQ in other States and the number of students from other States obtaining AIQ PG seats in each State.