What did the notification say?

The Punjab government’s Department of Medical Education and Research issued a notification on August 20 allowing vacant NRI-reserved seats to be filled by their relatives in India after qualifying NEET. “NRIs or their children, who originally belong to Punjab and any Indian state or Union Territory, are eligible for NRI quota seats. If in case the seats of NRIs are left vacant… the ward or nearest relations of the NRI shall also be considered under the NRI quota seats,” the notification stated.

The notification also spelled out who would include “nearest relations”. “In the definition of nearest relation, the following blood relations – (a) real brother and sister of father ie uncle and aunt (b) real brother and sister of mother ie maternal uncle and aunt (c) father and mother of father ie grandfather and grandmother (d) father and mother of mother ie maternal grandfather and maternal grandmother (e) first paternal and maternal cousins ​​– of the candidate seeking admission will be considered,” the notification added.

The notification added that the NRI-quota seats would go to relatives of NRIs if they remained vacant after the second round of counselling. And that if these were still not filled after that, they would be converted to general category seats.

Do NRIs matter in Punjab politics?

Punjab has among the country’s largest diasporas abroad. The AAP in particular got a big boost in the state on the strength of the support for it by the Punjabi diaspora, many of whom flew down to Punjab to campaign for the party in large numbers in the 2017 Assembly elections. The AAP, however, lost the elections, winning only 20 of the 117 seats.

In 2022, when the AAP contested again and stormed to power, winning 91 seats, it again got the support of the NRI community.

Was there another reason for the move?

Punjab is home to four government and seven private medical colleges, and one AIIMS. Only the seats in AIIMS are filled by the Medical Counseling Committee (MCC). The state also has 15 dental colleges, of which seven are private.

All 1,800 medical and 1,260 dental seats are filled through a merit list. Of them, 185 medical and 196 dental seats fall under the NRI quota. The fees for a medical seat under the NRI quota is $1,10,000 (Rs 91.96 lakh) while for a dental seat, it is $44,000 (Rs 36.78 lakh). For non-NRI quota medical seats, students pay a fee of Rs 1.83 lakh per year in government colleges, it varies between Rs 4.26 lakh and Rs 10.94 lakh in private colleges. The fee at private dental colleges in Punjab is category-based. The average tuition fee is between Rs.1,65 lakh and Rs 2,95 lakh depending upon the category and academic year of study.

As very few NRIs actually availed of the quota, most of the 15% seats in medical and dental colleges often went vacant and were filled with general category candidates who paid the same as regular students. Sources said the idea behind the change of rules was revenue generation as family members who took up the seats under the NRI quota would pay much more.

How did the matter reach the Supreme Court?

In August, a group of general category students, who were looking to get admission after the NRI quota seats were left vacant, moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the AAP government’s notification. The high court ruled in their favor, calling the notification “unjustified” and contrary to the original purpose of the NRI quota.

Then, earlier this month, candidates seeking to reap benefits of the expanded scope of the NRI quota approached the Supreme Court on the issue. Punjab argued that the broader implementation of the NRI quota was already being done in states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. HOW?

The apex court rejected Punjab’s arguments, observing that expanding the ambit of the NRI quota “dilutes merit and allows less deserving candidates to gain admission based on financial power and connections rather than academic performance”.

Has there been a political reaction to the Supreme Court ruling?

While the AAP has refused to comment on the issue, the Opposition has slammed Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia said the Supreme Court order has “exposed the new scam of the government”.

“Attempts were made to sell (medical and dental) seats to non-deserving candidates. The party which received huge support from NRIs is now defrauding them. The AAP government promised to open 16 medical colleges, but not even one has started since 2022,” he said.