13-05-2025
AP amends non-local quota rules; TS students to be affected
Visakhapatnam: The Andhra Pradesh government has amended its admission policy to
higher education
and other courses, reserving the 15%
non-local quota
seats exclusively for students from Andhra Pradesh starting from the 2025–26 academic year.
These seats, previously open to candidates from Telangana and other states, will no longer be accessible to non-AP now, candidates from Telangana and other states were eligible to compete for these non-local seats.
However, going forward, they will no longer be permitted to do so. This decision is part of a policy shift following the completion of 10 years since the bifurcation of the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh.A few months ago, the Telangana government restricted access for students from Andhra Pradesh to the 15% quota seats in its universities. Local status in Andhra Pradesh will be determined based on the region the student belongs to—either Andhra University or Sri Venkateswara the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, bifurcated the state into Telangana and (residuary) Andhra Pradesh, Section 95 of this Act provided for the continuation of the then-existing admission quotas in higher and technical education institutions for 10 years post-bifurcation, under Article 371-D of the Constitution. This 10-year period ended in June to protect the interests of students from Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education recommended taking appropriate measures in the admission a result, the government decided to amend the existing admission rules to avoid legal complications, responding to representations from parents and students. The primary amendment is the introduction of region-wise reservation of seats, with 85% of the seats in each course now reserved for local candidates of Andhra Pradesh, while the remaining 15% are eligibility criteria for the 15% unreserved seats in Andhra Pradesh higher education admissions appear to be aimed at balancing local preferences with broader inclusivity. For example, the rules recognise candidates with local ties to both university areas (Andhra University and Sri Venkateswara University) and those with long-term residency in the state. Furthermore, they include children and spouses of state/central government AU area includes the erstwhile undivided districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, and Prakasam. The SVU area includes the erstwhile combined districts of Anantapur, Kurnool, Chittoor, Kadapa, and state-wide universities and institutions such as Dr YSR Architecture and Fine Arts University, Kadapa, 85% of the seats are reserved for local candidates from the AU and SVU regions in a ratio of 65.62% and 34.38%, respectively. The remaining 15% follow the same unreserved seat criteria.
