A recent data from the Indian Consulate in Dubai has revealed some shocking truths. There has been a surge in NRI certificates issued for college admissions in India, and that’s not all. Authorities have detected more fake certificates last year than the previous years.

With the NEET admission scam being a serious cause of concern in more ways than one, 24 NRI certificates were found to be forged in 2024; the year before, in 2023, it was nine.

NRI certificates are basically issued to Indian nationals with a valid Indian passport. For admission purposes, the certificate gains significance as those applying to medical colleges under NRI quota, by submission of the same, need not write the NEET exam. This way, Indian origin students can secure medical seats just by paying a huge sum of money.

The fake certificates found now were either issued at source or obtained fraudulently by the applicants.

On this alarming trend in MBBS admissions, the Supreme Court last year called the NRI quota ‘a fraud’ and ‘a means of making money’. This year, the data from the Indian Consulate in Dubai has only shown the number of NRI certificates having increased by more than double when compared to the past three years. In 2021, a thousand such certificates were issued. In 2024, it was around 3,000.

Despite the scale of fraudulent activities in this matter remaining unclear, officials are demanding stringent measures to deal with the issue. They believe that a nationwide audit of NRI admissions could to some extent prevent manipulation. – Photo by freepik – editor@nrifocus.com