New Delhi:

The NRI quota system in college admissions was nothing but a fraud, the Supreme Court said today as it dismissed the Punjab government’s appeal against a high court order that junked amended rules to avail admission to MBBS courses through this quota.

The Punjab government had, in a notification dated August 20, widened the definition of an NRI candidate and made relatives of Non-Resident Indians (NRI) eligible to seek admission to the MBBS course under this quota. The Punjab and Haryana High Court shot down this notification, observing that this “opens the door for potential misuse”.

In the Supreme Court today, the Punjab government’s counsel said that Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were following a broad definition for NRI quota admissions. “HP, UP, Chandigarh, everyone is following the definition which I am saying… so only I am under (a) narrow definition,” he said.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud replied, “You are saying the nearest relation of NRI will also be considered. what is this? just a money-spinning tactic by the state.”

The bench, also comprising Justice JB Pardiwala, backed the high court order. “We must stop this NRI quota business now! This is a complete fraud. This is what we are doing to our education system,” the Chief Justice said. “Look at the result. Those who got marks three times high won’t get admission,” he added. Justice Pardiwala said all the applicants are from India. “They are just relatives, tai (aunt), taau (uncle), chacha, chachi.”

The Chief Justice said, “What is a ward? you just have to say I am looking after X.” He said the court cannot back something that is “blatantly illegal”.

There are about 185 NRI quota seats in Punjab’s medical and dental colleges.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann speaks during the ongoing session of Punjab Legislative Assembly, in Chandigarh on October 3, 2022.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday announced increasing the price of sugarcane to ₹380 per quintal from the existing ₹360 per quintal.

He announced a hike in SAP (State agreed price) of sugarcane on the floor of the Punjab Assembly on the concluding day of its brief session.

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In August 2021, the then Congress government had announced a ₹50 per quintal hike in SAP of sugarcane to ₹360 per quintal.

Mr. Mann said farmers will get an additional ₹20 per quintal under SAP of sugarcane as compared to last year.

With this decision, the State government will spend an additional ₹200 crore annually to benefit the farmers.

Mr. Mann said the farmers of the State eagerly want to adopt sugarcane crop under crop diversification, but they are hesitant for it due to lack of adequate price and timely payment of the crop.

At present, sugarcane is cultivated on just 1.25 lakh hectares of land in Punjab, while the total crushing capacity of sugar mills was around 2.50 lakh hectares. This is why the State government has decided to enhance the price to supplement the income of farmers, he said.

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Informing the House about the present status of the payments, the Chief Minister said the cooperative sugar mills have already paid the entire dues of the farmers but two private sugar mills have not paid the dues yet.

He informed that the owners of these mills have fled from the country, adding that the state government has already initiated the process to confiscate their assets to pay the pending dues of the farmers.