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Muslim students got most seats, then came protest: Jammu's Vaishno Devi medical college loses nod | Row explained
Following the revocation, Omar Abdullah said while people fight for getting medical college in other states, people but in Jammu fought for closing down one.
Amid protests against allotment of MBBS seats mostly to Muslim students at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district, the National Medical Commission has withdrawn permission to the college citing “gross deficiencies” in infrastructure among reasons.
The move comes after almost two months of full-blown controversy, which started in November.
In first batch of MBBS students at the college in Katra town, 42 of the 50 students admitted were Muslims, and this division of seats sparked outrage among some groups claiming to represent interests of Hindus, who are a minority in the UT.
Also Read: Vaishno Devi medical college's recognition revoked: What happens to the students already admitted?
The college had been sanctioned the 50 MBBS seats in September last year.
Why medical commission revoked nod
While withdrawing permission for the MBBS seats, the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) of the national commission cited reasons like poor infrastructure, lack of adequate clinical material, shortage of qualified full-time teaching staff, and insufficient resident doctors.
In its letter about it, the commission (NMC) said that in the past two weeks it had "received multiple complaints containing serious allegations against the institution, inter alia, regarding inadequate infrastructure, insufficient clinical material, shortage of qualified full-time teaching faculty and inadequate number of resident doctors". Following the complaints, the MARB had conducted a surprise physical inspection to verify the veracity of complaints.
The commission has said that the enrolled students would be accommodated in other medical institutions within the Union Territory.
The medical institute was part of the 467-bedded Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Superspeciality Hospital which was opened in 2016.
Why did the protests begin?
Though the commission has not cited the protests as such, the college has remained in headlines for weeks now over this controversy even as admissions were made as per test scores.
The protests began in November after a body called Rashtriya Bajrang Dal (RBD) flagged the admission process and demanded reservation of seats for Hindus at the institute.
Also Read: Omar Abdullah's ‘shut it’ remark amid Vaishno Devi medical college admission row
The college authorities, and even CM Omar Abdullah, pointed out that admissions were made as per the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). But the numbers included more Muslims apparently because of their national-level test scores plus the fact that 85 per cent of the seats were reserved for domiciles of the Muslim-majority UT. Muslims form over 65 per cent of the UT's population.
Who said what on MBBS seats row
Following protests in Jammu over the seat allotment, right wing groups questioned the admission process and demanded state-level minority status for the institution.
The Rashtriya Bajrang Dal, which organised the protests in Jammu, argued that the "minority status" to the institution in Jammu and Kashmir would allow it to reserve seats for Hindus.
They also argued that the medical college, “built with the donations of the those visiting the Hindu shrine of Vaishno Devi”, should be used only for the welfare of the Hindu community.
The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Sangarsh Samiti, an umbrella body of several right-wing organisations, initially tried to have the merit list scrapped. However, that move was legally unfeasible, and their demand shifted toward shutting down the college entirely.
CM Omar Abdullah argued at first, but then asked the Centre's BJP-led government to close the medical college and adjust the students to other colleges to end the controversy.
The BJP has welcomed the decision to withdraw the approval of the medical institution, calling for "quality over quantity". BJP's Udhampur MLA RS Pathania said the move “reaffirms commitment to quality” and said the "affected student will be seamlessly transferred to a Supernumerary Seat in other UT Colleges".
Following the revocation, Abdullah said that while people in other parts of the country fight for getting a medical college, but people in Jammu fought for closing down one.
