NRI seats go abegging in Punjab medical colleges, courtesy high fees

Of 353 MBBS and BDS seats under NRI quota at 25 medical and dental colleges in Punjab this year, only 37 were filled in the first round of counselling

Only four students have applied for 316 seats of undergraduate medical and dental courses under the non-resident Indian (NRI) quota left vacant in Punjab institutes after the first counselling for the 2021-22 academic session.

Only four students have shown interest in second counselling to fill 316 MBBS and BDS seats left vacant after the first round in Punjab. (ANI FILE PHOTO)

Of 353 seats under the quota this year, only 37 were filled in the first round of counselling. To fill the remaining 316, the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) had asked candidates to express willingness for a second round of counselling under the NRI quota in the state’s 25 medical and dental colleges.

“Only four applications were received to participate in the second round. All four are children of NRIs from other states and they have applied for the MBBS course,” says BFUHS registrar Nirmal Ouseppachan. Ten medical colleges in Punjab offer 177 MBBS seats under the NRI quota, of which 140 are vacant. The number of BDS seats reserved for NRI candidates in 15 dental colleges in the state is 176, and all are unfilled after the first round.

“With high tuition fee structure, the NRI-quota seats will continue to witness low number of students opting for it. Students also have to account for other expenses during the five-year course, making it an expensive proposition. Most of the NRIs who want to send their students to India for medical education are not so rich; so that is the main reason they are opting for other countries,” says BFUHS vice-chancellor Dr Raj Bahadur.

NRI seats go abegging in Punjab medical colleges, courtesy high fees

NRI-quota seats are the main source of revenue for medical and dental colleges. A full-course fee for an MBBS seat under the quota is USD 110,000 (around ₹83 lakh according to the present conversion rate) in all private and government medical colleges of the state. The fee for a BDS seat is USD 44,000 ( ₹33 lakh).

Former BFUHS V-C Dr SS Gill calls it “organised loot” by private and government medical colleges. “An NRI student spends around ₹1 crore to complete the MBBS course, while Ukraine offers this course at ₹30 lakh only. When the NRI quota fee was hiked during my tenure, some parents came to meet me. They told me that they are working as truck drives or daily wagers abroad and cannot afford such a high fee. If they would have had such amount of money, they would have sent their students to western countries,” he says.