Medical institutions in Karnataka are in the news as NRI admissions, which are currently limited to private medical colleges, may be extended to government colleges as well. A proposal to the government has been sent by the Directorate of Medical Education in this connection, requesting the introduction of a 15% NRI quota in all state-run medical colleges.

The finance department has allegedly raised queries on the cost-benefit of the proposal.

While private medical colleges charge a fee in the range of Rs. 1 crore to Rs 2.5 crore for an MBBS seat, this proposal recommending Rs. 25 lakh for an MBBS seat gains significance.

The proposal for NRI quota is mainly to increase revenue for the medical institutions that usually depend on grants from the Karnataka government, besides fees collected from the students.

With these grants being insufficient to meet rising costs, the introduction of an NRI quota is a workable option.

Agriculture and veterinary universities in Karnataka have already implemented an NRI quota of up to 15%.

“We have recommended a uniform fee structure for MBBS seats across colleges. However, for PG, we suggest different rates for clinical and paraclinical programmes,” said Sujatha Rathod, the director of medical education.

There are around 4,200 seats in medical colleges in Karnataka, of which 15% are under the all-India quota. – Image credit: freepik – editor@nrifocus.com