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EWS Quota in NEET is Backdoor Entry for the Rich: Rs.5 Cr MBBS Fees, Fake Certificates, Stolen Seats
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In 2019, the Indian government introduced a 10% reservation under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category with a noble intention — to help economically disadvantaged upper-caste students access government institutions. But over the six years since its introduction, that policy has turned into a massive scam.
This Story also Contains
- EWS Category Fraud in NEET? Watch full video here
- Category-wise Reservation in NEET UG
- Eligibility Criteria for EWS Category
- EWS Scam in Deemed Universities: Rich Students Buy Rs.2 Cr MBBS Seats with EWS Tag?
- EWS Students Grabbing NRI Seats by paying fees in USD
- State NEET Counselling: The rot isn't confined to deemed universities
- Private Universities in Uttarakhand State Counselling & Fees Paid by ‘EWS’ Students:
A close look into NEET 2024 counselling data, using records from both state and central levels, has found a serious problem. Many rich students are getting MBBS seats by using fake EWS certificates for NEET. These are students who claimed to be from the EWS category but, after failing to get a seat in government medical colleges in India, paid the management quota fees running into crores at private medical colleges. They paid between Rs.1.25 crore and Rs.5 crore to private medical colleges. The question that we must ask is - how can an EWS category student with little income and no wealth in property or land afford to pay such high fees? It suggests systemic rot and even corruption.
While these students taking seats in private medical colleges in India is not a concern, what should bother us is that students who are otherwise well off claim the subsidised seats in government medical colleges, thus taking away from a more deserving candidate. This is not only unfair but also shows a big flaw in the system that was made to help those who really need support.
EWS Category Fraud in NEET? Watch full video here
Category-wise Reservation in NEET UG
This table shows the category-wise NEET reservation criteria that totals up to 59.5%, including the EWS, which is 10%
Category | Reservation % |
EWS | 10% |
SC | 15% |
ST | 7.50% |
OBC-NCL | 27% |
Eligibility Criteria for EWS Category
To qualify as EWS, students must:
Have annual family income < Rs.8 lakh
Not own:
More than 5 acres of agricultural land
A flat larger than 1,000 sq ft
A residential plot over 100-200 sq yards
Not belong to SC, ST, or OBC-NCL categories
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Download EBookYet, what we’re seeing is students paying Rs.1.25 Cr to Rs.5 Cr in fees while claiming and getting certified as EWS candidates.
EWS Scam in Deemed Universities: Rich Students Buy Rs.2 Cr MBBS Seats with EWS Tag?
The admission process for all central institutions, deemed-to-be universities and the 15% all-India quota seats in state colleges is conducted through the MCC NEET counselling. The MCC is a central body under the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. On the MCC’s watch, across 54 deemed universities, a staggering 378 students claiming EWS status secured seats. Look at the fees they paid:
List of Deemed Universities & Fees Paid by "EWS" Students:
SNo | College Name | Student Count | Tuition Fee Per Year | Total Course Fees |
1 | Vels Medical College and Hospital, Tiruvallur | 11 | 3,344,000 | 16,720,000 |
2 | Dr D Y Patil Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Pune | 12 | 2,650,000 | 13,250,000 |
3 | Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital, Chennai | 5 | 2,550,000 | 12,750,000 |
4 | GITAM Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Visakhapatnam | 6 | 2,537,000 | 12,685,000 |
5 | Bhaarath Medical College and Hospital, Chennai | 5 | 2,500,000 | 12,500,000 |
6 | SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Chennai | 4 | 2,500,000 | 12,500,000 |
7 | Sree Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences, Puducherry | 3 | 2,500,000 | 12,500,000 |
8 | Amrita School of Medicine, Faridabad | 1 | 2,500,000 | 12,500,000 |
9 | Amrita School of Medicine, Kochi | 1 | 2,500,000 | 12,500,000 |
10 | Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Kelambakkam | 2 | 2,450,000 | 12,250,000 |
11 | Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Pondicherry | 2 | 2,400,000 | 12,000,000 |
12 | Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad | 2 | 2,400,000 | 12,000,000 |
13 | Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College, Pune | 5 | 2,360,000 | 11,800,000 |
14 | Dr D Y Patil Medical College, Kolhapur | 13 | 2,310,000 | 11,550,000 |
15 | Dr DY Patil Medical College, Navi Mumbai Medical College, Navi Mumbai | 7 | 2,310,000 | 11,550,000 |
16 | Krishna Vishwa Vidyapeeth, Karad | 15 | 2,300,000 | 11,500,000 |
17 | Raja Rajeshwari Medical College and Hospital, Bangalore | 6 | 2,300,000 | 11,500,000 |
18 | ACS Medical College and Hospital, Chennai | 4 | 2,300,000 | 11,500,000 |
19 | Yenepoya Medical College, Mangalore | 2 | 2,222,223 | 11,111,115 |
20 | BVDU Medical College and Hospital, Sangli | 14 | 2,210,000 | 11,050,000 |
21 | Graphic Era Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun | 5 | 2,200,000 | 11,000,000 |
22 | Datta Meghe Medical College, Nagpur | 5 | 2,200,000 | 11,000,000 |
23 | Vinayaka Mission's Kirupananda Variyar Medical College and Hospitals, Salem | 2 | 2,150,000 | 10,750,000 |
24 | MGM Medical College, Aurangabad | 19 | 2,100,000 | 10,500,000 |
25 | MGM Medical College and Hospital, Navi Mumbai | 18 | 2,100,000 | 10,500,000 |
26 | Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Kancheepuram | 9 | 2,100,000 | 10,500,000 |
27 | Aarupadai Veedu Medical College and Hospital, Puducherry | 6 | 2,100,000 | 10,500,000 |
28 | Mahatma Gandhi Mission Medical College, Nerul | 2 | 2,100,000 | 10,500,000 |
29 | Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Wardha | 17 | 2,075,000 | 10,375,000 |
30 | Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, Bhubaneswar | 3 | 1,995,000 | 9,975,000 |
31 | JSS Medical College, Mysore | 1 | 1,986,650 | 9,933,250 |
32 | Meenakshi Medical College Hospital and Research Institute, Kanchipuram | 9 | 1,950,000 | 9,750,000 |
33 | Vinayaka Missions Medical College and Hospital, Karaikal | 7 | 1,950,000 | 9,750,000 |
34 | Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belgaum | 4 | 1,920,000 | 9,600,000 |
35 | Shri B M Patil Medical College, Vijayapur | 13 | 1,900,000 | 9,500,000 |
36 | Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad | 7 | 1,900,000 | 9,500,000 |
37 | Sri Lalithambigai Medical College and Hospital, Chennai | 4 | 1,900,000 | 9,500,000 |
38 | Smt B K Shah Medical Institute and Research Center, Vadodara | 5 | 1,875,000 | 9,375,000 |
39 | Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar | 5 | 1,850,000 | 9,250,000 |
40 | Malla Reddy Medical College for Women, Hyderabad | 12 | 1,800,000 | 9,000,000 |
41 | JR Medical College and Hospital, Villupuram | 8 | 1,800,000 | 9,000,000 |
42 | Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Mullana | 4 | 1,800,000 | 9,000,000 |
43 | Sri Siddhartha Medical College, Tumkur | 11 | 1,775,000 | 8,875,000 |
44 | Sri Siddhartha Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Bengaluru | 9 | 1,775,000 | 8,875,000 |
45 | Jagadguru Gangadhar Mahaswamigalu Moorsavirmath Medical College, Hubli | 9 | 1,760,000 | 8,800,000 |
46 | Sri Devaraj URS Medical College, Kolar | 3 | 1,760,000 | 8,800,000 |
47 | Rural Medical College, Loni | 19 | 1,750,000 | 8,750,000 |
48 | KS Hegde Medical Academy, Mangalore | 6 | 1,750,000 | 8,750,000 |
49 | Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, New Delhi | 3 | 1,600,000 | 8,000,000 |
50 | Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, Campus II, Phulnakhara | 7 | 1,495,000 | 7,475,000 |
51 | Manipal Tata Medical College, Jamshedpur | 11 | 1,210,000 | 6,050,000 |
52 | Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore | 5 | 1,099,000 | 5,495,000 |
53 | Kasturba Medical College, Manipal | 4 | 1,099,000 | 5,495,000 |
54 | Symbiosis Medical College for Women, Pune | 6 | 1,000,000 | 5,000,000 |
Total | 378 | |||
Despite being meant for financially disadvantaged students, the EWS quota in deemed medical universities has been grossly misused in NEET 2024 admissions. Shocking data reveals that 378 students claiming to belong to the EWS category secured MBBS seats across 54 deemed universities, not through government quota, but through management quota, by paying extremely high fees ranging from Rs.87.5 lakh to Rs.1.67 crore for 5 years. This translates into an annual expenditure of Rs.10-33 lakh on tuition alone.
These figures don’t include hostel, food, or other additional expenses.This clearly exposes a major violation of EWS eligibility norms, which require an annual family income under Rs.8 lakh and limited assets.
The data suggests widespread fraudulent use of EWS certificates, where affluent families falsely claim EWS status to secure medical seats and students with extremely low NEET ranks (even below 10 lakh) are buying their way into MBBS programs of private universities paying high fees.
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EWS Students Grabbing NRI Seats by paying fees in USD
In an even more shocking twist to the EWS quota misuse, NEET 2024 data reveals that some students who originally applied under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category went on to secure MBBS seats under the NRI (Non-Resident Indian) sponsored quota in deemed universities — by paying in US dollars or its equivalent in Indian rupees.
According to the counselling records:
A total of 33 EWS-tagged students were admitted under NRI quotas in 20 deemed universities.
The average total fee paid per student was a staggering Rs.2.13 crore for the full 5-year MBBS course.
NRI Seats Claimed by EWS Category in Deemed Universities by Paying in USD
SNo | Actual College Name | Student Count | Tuition Fee Per Year | Tuition Fee Per Year(Rs) | Total Course Fees |
1 | Rural Medical College, Loni | 2 | USD 106700 | 9,133,520 | 45667600 |
2 | BVDU Medical College and Hospital, Sangli | 2 | USD 85050 | 7,280,280 | 36401400 |
3 | Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College, Pune | 1 | USD 85050 | 7,280,280 | 36401400 |
4 | MGM Medical College and Hospital, Navi Mumbai | 1 | USD 54938 | 4,702,693 | 23513464 |
5 | MGM Medical College, Aurangabad | 1 | USD 54938 | 4,702,693 | 23513464 |
6 | Malla Reddy Medical College for Women, Hyderabad | 3 | USD 50000 | 4,280,000 | 21400000 |
7 | Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Pondicherry | 1 | USD 50000 | 4,280,000 | 21400000 |
8 | Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad | 1 | USD 50000 | 4,280,000 | 21400000 |
9 | Sri Siddhartha Medical College, Tumkur | 1 | USD 50000 | 4,280,000 | 21400000 |
10 | Krishna Vishwa Vidyapeeth, Karad | 3 | USD 45000 | 3,852,000 | 19260000 |
11 | Sri Lalithambigai Medical College and Hospital, Chennai | 1 | USD 45000 | 3,852,000 | 19260000 |
12 | Symbiosis Medical College for Women, Pune | 2 | USD 44865 | 3,840,444 | 19202220 |
13 | Raja Rajeshwari Medical College and Hospital, Bangalore | 1 | USD 44000 | 3,766,400 | 18832000 |
14 | Jagadguru Gangadhar Mahaswamigalu Moorsavirmath Medical College, Hubli | 1 | USD 40000 | 3,424,000 | 17120000 |
15 | Dr D Y Patil Medical College, Kolhapur | 3 | USD 36000 | 3,081,600 | 15408000 |
16 | Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad | 2 | USD 35000 | 2,996,000 | 14980000 |
17 | Smt B K Shah Medical Institute and Research Center, Vadodara | 2 | USD 35000 | 2,996,000 | 14980000 |
18 | Shri B M Patil Medical College, Vijayapur | 2 | USD 29547 | 2,529,223 | 12646116 |
19 | Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Wardha | 2 | USD 27500 | 2,354,000 | 11770000 |
20 | Datta Meghe Medical College, Nagpur | 1 | USD 27500 | 2,354,000 | 11770000 |
This defies every principle behind the EWS policy. If a student qualifies as economically weak, how are they paying Rs.3–5 crore in foreign currency? These aren't just technical violations — they point to outright fraud and systemic corruption.
Worse still, many of these students had very poor NEET ranks – one had a rank of 6,61,975 – and yet secured admission solely by paying under the high-fee NRI quota.
The result?
Genuine EWS students are robbed of their seats
NRI quotas become a safe haven for fake EWS applicants
Merit is completely compromised, as money trumps all
This exploitation needs urgent attention. If a student uses an EWS certificate, they should not be eligible for high-cost NRI seats or even management quota seats, as it contradicts the basic premise of financial need. Regulatory bodies must audit such admissions, verify income sources, and ensure that EWS reservations aren’t misused as a paid backdoor for the rich posing as poor.
State NEET Counselling: The rot isn't confined to deemed universities
The misuse of EWS certificates isn’t limited to all-India or deemed university admissions; state-level medical counselling is equally affected. For state seats, medical counselling is conducted by state bodies.
Data from states like Uttarakhand and West Bengal show that EWS-tagged students are securing MBBS admission through management quota by paying fees well beyond what someone from an economically weaker background should be able to afford.
Private Universities in Uttarakhand State Counselling & Fees Paid by ‘EWS’ Students:
SNo | College Name | Fee Per Year | Total Course Fee |
1 | Himalayan Institute of Medical Science, Jolly Grant Dehradun | 21,00,000 | 1,05,00,000 |
2 | Himalayan Institute of Medical Science, Jolly Grant Dehradun | 21,00,000 | 1,05,00,000 |
3 | Gautam Buddha Chikitsa Mahavidyalaya, Dehradun | 21,00,000 | 1,05,00,000 |
4 | Gautam Buddha Chikitsa Mahavidyalaya, Dehradun | 21,00,000 | 1,05,00,000 |
5 | Gautam Buddha Chikitsa Mahavidyalaya, Dehradun | 21,00,000 | 1,05,00,000 |
6 | Gautam Buddha Chikitsa Mahavidyalaya, Dehradun | 21,00,000 | 1,05,00,000 |
7 | Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical & Health Sciences, Dehradun | 20,00,000 | 1,00,00,000 |
8 | Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical & Health Sciences, Dehradun | 20,00,000 | 1,00,00,000 |
9 | Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical & Health Sciences, Dehradun | 20,00,000 | 1,00,00,000 |
Out of a total of 225 MBBS seats, 9 were taken by students under the EWS category through the management quota. Each of these students paid between Rs.1 crore and Rs.1.05 crore for the full course. Even though the state follows a transparent counselling system, these so-called economically weaker students were able to afford Rs.20–21 lakh per year in fees. This raises serious doubts about whether they truly belong to the EWS category, highlighting possible misuse of the reservation meant for the genuinely poor.
It’s Time Students and Parents Speak Up
The EWS reservation policy was introduced to promote fairness and uplift truly disadvantaged students. But today, it’s being blatantly misused by those who are neither poor nor deserving—using fake certificates, buying MBBS seats worth crores, and robbing opportunities from genuine candidates.
This is not just a loophole—it’s a systemic failure that threatens the integrity of medical education, meritocracy, and social justice.
Until the students and parents start speaking up, the EWS quota will remain a backdoor for the rich—destroying trust in the system, damaging merit, and pushing genuinely poor students out of an education field they deserve to be part of.
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Have a question related to NEET ?
For preparing NEET entrance exam in three months, you can check the link attached below:
https://medicine.careers360.com/articles/how-prepare-for-neet-in-3-months
Hi! As per the NEET eligibility criteria , you must be 17 years of age as on December 31 of the year of admission. As you will complete the age criteria, you can definitely appear for NEET 2027. Do check the other eligibility criteria and apply for the NEET 2027
Hi Vishwajeet Nagare,
To get the best marks in the NEET 2026 exam, you need to be perfect in the fundamentals, basics, syllabus topics. However you can still have time to score good marks. Follow the below link to reach high rank in NEET 2026.
Link: https://medicine.careers360.com/articles/neet-preparation-tips
The NEET qualifying cutoff for ST category was 143-113. For ST (PWD) , the cut off marks 2025 was 126-113. As you have not mentioned the closing rank for a particular college. Here, we have provided the college wise 2025 MBBS closing rank for ST category.
Regards.
With 400-500 score in NEET, securing MBBS admission at CMC Vellore is highly challenging for students. With such score, you can apply for allied health science courses offered by the institute.
Regards,
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