Letter of Permission for Jammu’s Shri Vaishno Devi Medical College revoked

Opposition due to admission granted to 42 Muslims out of total 50 seats  

Jammu (Kashmir) – National Medical Commission (NMC) has decided to revoke the permission granted to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence at Katara, for teaching MBBS course. The decision was taken after a surprise inspection conducted on 02.01.2026 and finding serious violation of basic standards e.g. in teaching management, provision for patients, and clinical facilities, etc. The Medical Assessment and Rating Board has noted that the college doesn’t fulfil the basic yardsticks. The permission was revoked after getting approval of the President of NMC.

Row over 42 students out of 50 being Muslims

The row intensified on realising that there were 42 Muslim students out of total 50 admitted to MBBS course. BJP and a few other devout Hindu organisations expressed displeasure over admission to Muslims in an institute run with temple funds. The then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, however, claimed that all admissions were granted based on the results of NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) and the entrance examination. He also claimed that there was no discrimination based on religion and stated that if minority status was required, it should have been asked for earlier.

Serious drawbacks observed during investigations

On 02.01.2026, the Medical Assessment and Rating Board conducted inspection based on the complaints received. It was observed that there was non-compliance with essential regulatory requirement including 39% less teaching staff; besides  shortage of 65% in the staff required as tutor demonstrators and senior resident doctors. The number of patients and treatment facilities were also considerably lower than the standard. There were 182 patients in OPD against 400 as per the expected standard. The number of admitted patients was 45% of the approved capacity as against expected standard of 80% and there was only 50% admission even in ICU department. The number of deliveries were only 25 per month as per the records.

Editorial Perspective

This decision has done injustice to Hindus as due to Muslims, Hindus will not be able to study in a college run with Hindu temple’s funds and it is very shameful.