NEET PG admissions: 800+ candidates move from Indian to NRI quota

The Medical Council Committee that allocates postgraduate seats in various medical specialities has released a list of candidates who have chosen to change their nationality. A total of 811 candidates have selected to change their nationality from “Indian” to “non-resident Indian” in order to get seats in the third round counselling. 

Although seats in the NRI quota are the most expensive, competition is very less which leads to lower cut-offs. Therefore, conversion to NRI gives those with low scores in NEET PG  a chance to get a seat in a high clinical discipline. 

The 811 candidates who are found to be eligible for the NRI quota include two categories: those who are actually are NRI or the children of NRIs and the second category includes who can show themselves to be the wards of first-degree or second-degree relatives who are NRI. 

As per the list, there are 113 candidates in the first group and 698 in the second group. Over 60% (422) of 698 candidates in the second category of non resident Indian are below 1.5 lakh rank. 

The lowest score in the non-resident Indians in the first category is 82 out of 800 or just over 10%, while it is 28 (3.5%) in the second category. In the first category, 75 (66%) scored less than 215, which means their rank is below 1.5 lakh. 

Annual quota fees for NRI quota PG seats can be as high as 45 lakhs to 95 lakhs per year, depending on the speciality, state and whether the medical college is deemed a university. 

However, if the courts and government do not permit conversion of Indians into NRIs, many of the NRI quota seats will remain unfilled and would have to be converted into management seats, where the fees would be much less. 

While courts have accepted the argument that private medical colleges cannot afford financial losses, the definition of NRI has been expanded to allow candidates without NRI parents or siblings to claim NRI status by showing themselves as wards of near relatives—such as NRI uncles, aunts, or grandparents—who can sponsor them.