NRI quota in T med colleges to stay unaltered this year Very Late For Changes In The System, Says Kaloji Varsity

NRI quota in T med colleges to stay unaltered this year Very Late For Changes In The System, Says Kaloji Varsity 

Nirupa.Vatyam@timesofindia.com 26.09.2024

Hyderabad : For this academic year, Telangana will allow candidates with NRI uncles and aunts to seek MBBS admission, confirmed officials at Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) on Wednesday. They, however, maintained that the state only extends this benefit to “blood relatives of NRIs after due verification”. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected the Punjab govt's plea challenging the high court's verdict on widening of the NRI quota in medical colleges. The apex court stated that distant relatives of NRIs cannot be granted this benefit, while calling for the need to put an end to the NRI quota business. 

Earlier, the Punjab govt had proposed to include uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins etc as “close relations” of the candidate under this quota. “It might be too late to make any changes to the system as we are yet to receive the Supreme Court order on the subject. A decision can be taken only after studying the order in consultation with the state’s legal team,” an official said, adding that admissions for 2024-25 will go ahead as planned, since the notification for NRI quota has already been released. 600 seats under quota now Telangana currently has about 600 MBBS seats under this quota. To apply under this provision, candidates have to submit various documents: NRI sponsorship certificate (Declaration form), NRI status certificate of the financial supporter issued by the embassy of the respective country under their seal, a copy of the NRI bank account passbook of the financial supporter, and a copy of the passport of the NRI financial supporter, or the sponsor, who is a blood relative – father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, or aunt. 

“Only after thorough scrutiny do we allot these seats. And they are strictly given only to blood  relatives,” the official added. As per KNRUHS, the state receives around 500 to 1000 applications for MBBS seats under the NRI quota every year. But eventually about 15% to 20% of them are converted into management quota as it does end up with the required number of NRI applicants, post scrutiny. Many also drop out along the way. When it comes to PG medical seats, almost 100% of them are converted into management quota as there is no demand among NRIs for these seats. Given the practice, experts also pointed out a revision in NRI quota guidelines, in the future, is unlikely to make much difference. 

“I don’t see any harm in uncles and aunts sponsoring under the NRI quota. But, if the state has to amend it based on the court’s direction, it should not be a problem as these seats will be converted to management quota. Once they are converted to management quota, anyone will be able to apply and it doesn’t make any difference whether they are related to NRI or not,” said K Mahesh Kumar, president, Healthcare Reforms Doctor