Non-resident Indian quota seats in engineering colleges have been slashed to 5 per cent from the existing 15 per cent. The government will issue the orders after the announcement of Eamcet results on June 30.

The decision was taken to prevent college managements from misusing the NRI quota by selling the seats. There have been complaints that colleges were giving admission to fake NRI students by collecting huge capitation fees and donations. The new rules stipulate that only five per cent of seats can be allotted to NRI students whose parents live abroad. No “sponsorship“ from NRI relatives or friends will be allowed.

Students and parents vie for NRI quota seats in the top 50 engineering colleges.

Even though the AICTE clearly stipulates that the 15 per cent NRI quota within the 30 per cent management quota should be strictly allotted to “genuine NRI students“ whose parents live abroad, the powerful college managements' lobby brought pressure on the government to dilute the rule by incorporating the words “NRI or NRIsponsored students.“

This allowed managements to admit local students if they have a letter from their NRI relatives stating that they will sponsor them.

The advantage of the NRI quota for the college was that the government-prescribed fee for these students was $5000 or `3 lakh per annum. The fee for the non-NRI management seats is `95,000 per annum. That apart, it is an open secret that the colleges collect “donations“ of up to `20 lakh depending on the demand.