Activists condemn 15% NRI quota for MBBS seats in Karnataka government medical colleges

NEW DELHI: The education activists condemn the Karnataka state government's recent request to the Centre for the introduction of a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) quota in government medical colleges. The Karnataka government proposed a 15% quota for Non-Resident Indians ( NRIs) in government medical colleges.

The proposal involves the addition of 508 supernumerary MBBS seats in 22 government medical colleges from the academic year 2025-26 onwards. The president of All India Save Education Committee (AISEC), Allamaprabhu Bettaduru, in a press statement, criticised the government's proposal, describing it as an act of "financial and moral bankruptcy."

He expresses concern that permitting the sale of seats in a government institution under the guise of supernumerary quota or NRI admissions is a direct threat to the principles of democratic education, as well as to the quality and standards of medical education and healthcare. AISEC in its press release states that such practices could transform government colleges into commercial and private entities.

“By introducing this illegitimate and illegal NRI quota, the state government agenda is to go for all-out commercialisation and privatisation of government medical colleges and hospitals is a foregone conclusion,” the official press statement read.

Call for public resistance

According to the official press statement, the AISEC appeals to the students, doctors and citizens of Karnataka to resist this government's proposal. “We like to caution the government that in the past, similar moves by various governments were strongly resisted by students, teaching community under AISEC,” it read. It also calls upon the central government and the National Medical Commission (NMC) to resist this “illegal and illegitimate” request from the Karnataka government.