KP approves revised medical college quota for merged districts

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has approved a revised distribution of 334 reserved medical college seats for students from merged districts or the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) for the 2026-27 academic session, allocating separate quotas to Upper and Lower South Waziristan.

Under the new policy, each of the two South Waziristan districts will receive 21 seats, ending the previous arrangement under which both shared a combined quota of 42 seats.

The provincial home department has issued a notification detailing the revised allocation, according to which 114 seats have been reserved for students from Bajaur, North Waziristan and Khyber, while 111 seats have been allocated to Orakzai, Kurram and Mohmand.

Another 67 seats comprise seven seats for each of the nine sub-divisions and four joint open-merit seats, taking the total allocation to 334.

The notification said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor had approved the revised distribution schedule on October 30.

Background to revised policy

The revision follows a dispute over the distribution of reserved medical and dental college seats after South Waziristan was divided into Upper and Lower districts in October 2022.

Under the previous arrangement, the two districts continued to share 42 reserved seats, with 21 seats effectively available to each under the new arrangement.

However, students from Lower South Waziristan challenged the policy, arguing that the government should formulate a fresh and equitable mechanism for distributing the seats among the tribal districts.

In July 2026, the Peshawar High Court directed the provincial Home Department to reconsider its policy and devise a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory mechanism after consulting relevant stakeholders.

The court observed that continuing to apply a policy framed before South Waziristan’s division could no longer be justified on territorial or population grounds.

It also noted that the region had been among those most severely affected by terrorism.

The court directed that the revised policy be placed before the provincial cabinet for approval.

The provincial cabinet subsequently approved the equal distribution of the 42 seats between Upper and Lower South Waziristan for the 2026-27 academic session.

The quota system for students from the former FATA was originally administered at the federal level before the region’s merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The authority was subsequently transferred to the provincial government, which extended the quota policy until 2028.

For the 2025-26 academic session, a total of 333 medical and dental college seats had been allocated to students from the merged districts.

The revised allocation is intended to reflect the administrative changes in the former tribal areas while ensuring a more equitable distribution of educational opportunities among their students.