MyVoice: Views of our readers 17th January 2026

NEET-PG criteria revision is a ludicrous move

This is further to the report ‘Can a -40 score make a specialist?’ report published in The Hans India on January 15. It is astounding that National Board of Examinations (NBE) has reduced the minimum qualifying percentile cut-off for counselling of the third round of National Eligibility-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2025-2026 for various categories, which translates to even those who scored-40 marks in the examination becoming eligible to take admission in the highly sought-after clinical specialities, which according to doctors, will compromise merit and talent. The revised qualifying percentiles for NEET-PG 2025 will dilute and dismantle the conditions and criterion for a doctor to become a specialist–while midnight oil is burnt by countless students wanting to quality for PG courses for whom this short-cut route being offered to the reserved categories of students belonging to SC/ST look askance, appear ludicrous, to put things mildly.

K V Raghuram,Wayanad

Time for a Secunderabad municipal corporation

The latest we hear is that the Telangana government plans to trifurcate the sprawling Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits into three municipal corporations-Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri. However, this proposal is not acceptable to people of Secunderabad, which has a 225-year history and is famed all over the world. Given the individual identity it enjoys, poetic justice will be rendered if Secunderabad is made a separate municipal corporation.

Jakka Vijay Kumar,Secunderabad-15

Mass culling of dogs is dreadful

The reported killing of nearly 500 stray dogs across districts of Telangana early this month has shaken the nation’s conscience. According to police records and video evidence, dogs were eliminated through lethal injections and poisoned bait in what appears to have been a coordinated drive. This mass culling was allegedly linked to election promises by newly elected sarpanches, who assured ‘dog-free villages’ to win votes. Although 15 persons have been booked, the absence of swift arrests has deepened public anger. Legally, this act stands on indefensible ground. The Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act clearly prohibit killing or harming street dogs, allowing only sterilisation and vaccination. The Supreme Court has repeatedly stressed humane population control, not extermination. Ethically, the episode reflects chilling insensitivity—killing hundreds of voiceless animals is no different from organised slaughter, carried out in silence to impress voters. Every person involved, including authorities, executors, and enablers must be subject to harshest punishment to set a national example.

RS Narula,Patiala

TG Speaker must act now

All the political parties in the country are making a mockery of democracy as far as defections by elected people’s representatives are concerned. There is not a single political party in the country which has not misused or abused the authority of the office of Speaker in any Legislative Assembly. To this category belongs the Telangana Speaker, who is sitting on the issue for over a year now. This, even though the Speaker does not enjoy constitutional immunity in this regard. The TG Assembly Speaker also indulged in the grossest contempt of court orders and is thus liable to be punished. Now that the Supreme Court has given him two weeks to submit a status report as a final opportunity before it (SC) takes a decision against the Speaker, it is time he acts and submits the status report.

Govardhana Myneedu,Vijayawada

Chiru magic continues to reign supreme

‘Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu’, starring megastar Chiranjeevi and Nayanatara in lead roles has been a blockbuster at the box-office. It has proved that Chiranjeevi magic remains as high as ever and he is one the best actors in Tollywood. Propped by scintillating numbers, the movie deserves the 3/5 rating. Its record-making collections have helped it be declared as a major hit worldwide.

V Bhagirath Kumar, Hyderabad-72

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