Have requested increase of NRI quota in medical courses: Karnataka Minister

Karnataka’s Minister for Medical Education Sharan Prakash Patil on Monday said that the state has requested the Centre to increase the quota for Non-Resident Indian (NRI) students in medical education courses in the state. However, he noted that a formal application is yet to be submitted, and a final decision will be made soon.
Minister Patil was responding to the Supreme Court’s September 24 ruling, which struck down the Punjab government’s decision to expand the scope of the ‘NRI quota’ in undergraduate medical admissions. Karnataka is also planning a similar move to introduce a NRI quota.
“Our colleges need to become self-financed institutions. Therefore, we have requested an increase in admissions under the NRI quota. However, we have not applied yet, and we will make a decision in due time,” the minister said when asked about the state’s demand.
He further said that the state government must review on what grounds the Supreme Court has made its decision and consider its observations.
“From what I have learned, the decision was made after the relaxation of NRI norms for admissions in Punjab and Haryana. We will study the court verdict and assess its potential impact on the state of Karnataka,” the minister said.
In July this year, the Siddaramaiah government asked the central government to approve extra MBBS seats in government-run medical colleges from the 2025-26 academic year onwards, so they can introduce an NRI quota in these colleges.
Minister Patil had written to the Chairman of the National Medical Commission (NMC) requesting sanction of 15 per cent NRI quota by creating 508 additional supernumerary MBBS seats for admission in 22 government medical colleges in the state.
On Tuesday, quashing Punjab’s NRI quota, the Supreme Court observed that the quota expansion was a “complete fraud” which must be put to an end.
“This is nothing but a money spinning machine,” observed a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra while dismissing the state’s appeal against the verdict of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
“We will dismiss all the petitions. This NRI business is nothing but a fraud. We will put an end to all this…. now the so-called precedents must give way to primacy of law,” the bench said.
However, the Karnataka Medical Education Minister stated that the verdict has no immediate implications for the state, while adding that the government is currently examining it.