BANGALORE: Karnataka has perhaps become the first State to permit private professional colleges to admit students of foreign origin (foreigners) for medicine, dentistry and engineering courses.

Sources told The Hindu on Wednesday that the decision to reserve some seats under this category was taken at the meetings held between the representatives of private professional colleges and the Government. Such students would be accommodated in colleges under the 15 per cent

Non-Resident Indian (NRI) quota, which was permitted by the Supreme Court in the P.A. Inamdar case.

Although the Supreme Court categorically stated that an NRI would be a bona fide Indian living outside India, the State had enlarged this definition and had extended it to mean a foreign student. This would help managements generate higher revenue and help them take care of the needs of poor students.

The managements would be at liberty to choose percentage of students under the foreign student quota as long as did not exceed 15 per cent.

Central law

Extending the benefit of admitting foreign students, the Central law with regard to engineering colleges being permitted to admit students above the prescribed quota would be in place. As per the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) guidelines, some engineering colleges would be permitted to admit 15 per cent foreign students above the prescribed intake in the overall quota.

This option would not be open to all engineering colleges. The AICTE would inspect engineering colleges iand those institutions that had achieved a certain status in providing infrastructure would be entitled for this privilege. This issue had been discussed and a request made to extend it to medical and dental colleges, but the Medical Council of India and the Dental Council of India are yet to act on it.

Kashmiri quota

All private professional colleges have decided that they would reserve from this year one seat in the institution for a student from Kashmir. This seat would be allotted by the State and it is in accordance with the directions of the Centre.

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