13 general category MBBS seats reserved for NRIs

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, August 22

The state government this evening converted 13 general category MBBS seats at Dr BR Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Mohali, into NRI quota seats.

As per an August 9 notification of the Department of Medical Education and Research (DMER), there was no NRI quota seat at the institute. Making modifications to that notification, the DMER this evening declared that 15 seats at the AIMS-Mohali would be earmarked as NRI quota seats.

The institute has 100 seats in all. Of the 15 seats declared to be reserved for NRI candidates, 13 were general category seats, while one each was reserved for border area and backward area candidates.

Sources in the DMER said as every NRI seat fetched the medical college $1.10 lakh (about Rs 93 lakh) as full MBBS course tuition fee in comparison to Rs 9.5 lakh tuition fee for a general category student, the state government opted to put 15 seats under the NRI quota category. The move would generate about Rs 12.5 crore extra as tuition fee.

Now, the number of open category seats at the AIMS-Mohali has come down to 30 from 43 earlier.

Two days ago, the DMER had given a jolt to general category candidates by relaxing the eligibility criteria for admissions under the NRI quota category.

Over the past few years, more than 75 per cent NRI quota seats had remained vacant and these were then converted into general category seats. By relaxing the eligibility criteria for NRI candidates, the state government now aims to fill all 183 seats under this category, thereby generating additional funds for government and private medical colleges in the state.