Uncertainty looms over SMVD Medical College MBBS students as fresh counselling ruled out
Jammu: The future of 50 MBBS students admitted to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) remains uncertain after the Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE) clarified that it cannot conduct fresh counselling for the current academic year.
In a communication to the Union Territory’s Health and Medical Education Department, BOPEE said that reallocating these students or creating supernumerary seats does not fall within its mandate and must be handled at the government level. The department had sought BOPEE’s intervention to relocate students after regulatory action against the medical college.
The issue surfaced earlier this month when the National Medical Commission’s Medical Assessment and Rating Board withdrew the letter of permission granted to SMVDIME, citing failure to meet minimum standards. The regulator had directed that students already admitted through counselling be accommodated in other medical colleges in Jammu and Kashmir against supernumerary seats.
Explaining its position, BOPEE said it is bound by the counselling schedule issued by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and cannot go beyond it. The board noted that the data of 1,410 MBBS candidates — including the 50 SMVDIME students — was uploaded on the MCC portal by the last date of joining on December 31, 2025, leaving no scope for fresh counselling for the 2025–26 session.
BOPEE further stated that the creation and allotment of supernumerary seats is outside its jurisdiction and must be undertaken by the government in consultation with the National Medical Commission and the concerned medical colleges in the Union Territory.
The controversy around SMVDIME has also taken a political and social turn. A group calling itself Sangharsh Samiti, comprising several right-wing organisations and backed by the BJP, has been protesting in Jammu since November last year. The group has been demanding cancellation of admissions to the college and has sought reservation of seats exclusively for students professing faith in Mata Vaishno Devi.
Of the first batch of 50 MBBS students admitted to SMVDIME, 42 are Muslims — largely from Kashmir — along with seven Hindu students from Jammu and one Sikh student. This demographic composition fuelled the agitation and calls for scrapping the admissions.
Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah had sought to reassure students and their families, stating that the government would ensure their education does not suffer. He said the administration has a legal responsibility to accommodate the affected students and would create supernumerary seats in medical colleges, preferably close to their homes.
“We will not allow the careers of these students to be derailed. They will be adjusted through supernumerary seats so that their education continues without disruption,” the chief minister had said.
(with inputs from agencies)
