Amid Muslim students' admission row, National Medical Commission revokes MBBS nod to Mata Vaishno Devi college

Jammu college loses MBBS permission amid ‘admission to Muslims’ row, students to be shifted to other institutes

• NMC revoked recognition of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi medical college in Jammu
• All MBBS students will be transferred to other recognised colleges in the UT
• College criticized for majority of Muslim admissions

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Amid backlash over admission to majority of Muslim students, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has revoked the recognition of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi college in Jammu, citing serious lapses in minimum standards.

The NMC withdrew the Letter of Permission (LoP) granted to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence at Reasi in Jammu and Kashmir for running the MBBS course with 50 seats for the academic year 2025-26.

All existing MBBS students will be transferred to other recognised medical colleges in the Union Territory.

The college has been embroiled in a heated political controversy over its admission data. For the 2025-26 academic year, 42 of the 50 students in the inaugural batch were Muslims, and one was a Sikh — a composition that triggered intense protests from several groups in Jammu.

What did NMC state?

The Medical Assessment & Rating Board (MARB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC), vide public notices dated December 5, 2024 and December 19, 2024, had invited applications for the establishment of new medical colleges for the academic year 2025–26.

“Pursuant to the said notices, the NMC received an application for the establishment of a new medical college, namely Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence, along with several other applications. After following the due process, including scrutiny of documents and physical inspection by expert assessors, the MARB granted a LoP to the said college. Accordingly, admissions were made by the institution,” read a letter issued by NMC.

“However, over the past two weeks, the NMC has 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,” it noted.

“The MARB decided to conduct a surprise physical inspection to verify the veracity of the complaints. The assessment report submitted by the team established that the complaints were true and substantiated. The deficiencies observed were gross and substantial in nature,” it stated.

“To safeguard the interests of the students already admitted for the academic year 2025–26, the state/UT authorities have been authorised to accommodate such students in other medical institutions within the union territory, as supernumerary seats, in accordance with applicable norms,” the medical commission concluded.

BJP welcomes decision

The BJP has welcomed the NMC decision and termed the withdrawal of recognition as "quality over quantity".

"Quality Over Quantity: NMC has revoked permission for 50 MBBS seats at SMVDIME due to a failure to meet essential standards. It reaffirms commitment to quality. Every affected student will be seamlessly transferred to a Supernumerary Seat in other UT Colleges," said BJP MLA RS Pathania.

Earlier, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had voiced concerns over the safety of the students due to the increasing politicisation of the campus. He had urged the Centre to shut down the institution and relocate the students.

"We don't need this college; it's not worth being a medical college. Shut down this institution, and we will arrange education for these students in other colleges," Abdullah had said.

What is the admission row?

Over the past few months, BJP leaders and local trade bodies in Jammu have been strongly opposing the admission list and demanded an immediate rollback. The groups argued that because the college is run by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, it should cater primarily to Hindu students.

The BJP had even submitted a memorandum to Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha - who serves as the Chairman of the Shrine Board - asking him to rescind the admissions.

Even as the college has followed National Medical Council guidelines on admissions as per the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) list, Hindu groups say only Hindus should get admission in the college.

This created major ripples in the Union Territory. Omar said, “The children passed exams and secured seats on their hard work. None did any favour to them. If you don’t want them there then adjust them somewhere else.”

“In the given scenario, I don’t feel that students themselves would like to study there. We request GOI and the health ministry to adjust these children in other colleges. Had I been a parent of these students, I wouldn’t have sent them. We wouldn’t want them to study where there’s so much politics,” he added. “Give our children another medical college and close that medical college (Vaishno Devi). We don’t need such a medical college. Adjust these children in good government medical colleges,” he asserted.