By asking the Center to approve supernumerary MBBS seats in government medical colleges in order to create a non-resident Indian (NRI) quota, the Karnataka government has taken a major step forward. This project, which is scheduled to start in the 2025–2026 school year, is to increase the state’s medical education industry by drawing in foreign students and bringing in more money.
On June 27, Dr. Sharan Prakash Patil, the Minister of Medical Education for Karnataka, formally asked the chairman of the National Medical Commission (NMC) to grant a 15 percent NRI quota. 508 supernumerary MBBS seats are to be created in 22 government medical colleges as a result of this request. Supernumerary seats are extra seats that are produced in colleges over and above the current authorized intake; this has no bearing on the total number of seats that are open to domestic students.
Referencing the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines—which permit supernumerary seats for international students in undergraduate and postgraduate programs—Dr. Patil defended the suggestion. In order to increase global outreach, he also mentioned the National Education Policy 2020, which encourages the integration of international students. The minister made note of the fact that government medical colleges in other states, including Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Puducherry, already have a 7–15 percent NRI quota. For a five-year medical course, these states charge between $75,000 (about Rs 62 lakh) and $1,00,000 (about Rs 83 lakh). On the other hand, Karnataka’s private medical institutes, which charge between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2.5 crore, now welcome NRI students.
Dr. Patil emphasized that a 15 percent NRI quota is already in place at government universities in Karnataka, including those that teach veterinary medicine, agriculture, and horticulture. These colleges are able to offer better facilities and higher-quality education because of the higher fees they get from NRI students. He contended that the state’s independent medical institutions would experience less financial constraints if government medical colleges followed a similar strategy. These universities nonetheless face financial difficulties even with budgetary allotments, student fees, and grants from the federal and state governments. The NRI quota’s additional revenue could be utilized for infrastructure upgrades, faculty expansion, medical equipment purchases, patient load management, and research capacity enhancement.
In addition, Dr. Patil stated that it would not be possible to create an NRI quota within the current seats because doing so would decrease the number of seats accessible to the disadvantaged and would incite protests from parents and students. The plan focuses on adding supernumerary seats in order to prevent this. The minister suggested charging an annual charge of Rs 25 lakh for each non-resident Indian student. This would bring in about Rs 127 crore in the first year and Rs 571.5 crore by the fifth year for the medical education department.
Notwithstanding the possible advantages, there has been opposition to the plan. The All India Save Education Committee (AISEC) head for Karnataka, Allamaprabhu Bettaduru, denounced the action and called it a bid to privatize and commercialize medical education. He contended that since public monies were used to build government institutions, they shouldn’t be considered like private property and that the NRI quota’s auctioning off seats to the wealthy goes against the fundamentals of democracy and high-quality education. Bettaduru hinted at broad opposition to the initiative, saying the people of Karnataka would not put up with such behavior.
The Karnataka government’s proposal to impose an NRI quota in government medical colleges has sparked discussion about the commercialization of education and how it might affect underprivileged students’ access to medical education, even though its main goals are to increase revenue and enhance the quality of medical education. The Center’s answer as well as the state’s larger political and public response will determine how this proposition turns out.
SOURCE:
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
