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New Delhi: The MBBS admission list of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) has sparked a debate over faith and merit. The BJP unit of Jammu and Kashmir has raised concerns over the list of candidates shortlisted to pursue medical education at the institute. While the BJP demands a fresh admission list considering the “faith in Mata Vaishno Devi” while granting seats, the opposition leaders in Jammu and Kashmir condemned the move as unconstitutional.
This year, the SMVDIME has been sanctioned a total of 50 MBBS seats. The admission of 41 students from a particular community to the MBBS batch 2025-26 has triggered controversy.
The BJP legislators met Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday and sought the revocation of the first admission list, alleging that a majority of the admitted students belonged to one community. The delegation led by JK's Leader of Opposition in Assembly, Sunil Sharma, urged Lt Governor to ensure that students who have “faith in the deity” be considered for admission at the institute.
“We raised an extraordinary and significant issue regarding the first batch of admissions at SMVDIME, where most seats have gone to students of a particular community,” PTI quoted Sharma after the meeting.
“Our opposition is based on the argument that this place is purely religious in nature and linked to devotion, faith and loyalty of crores of devotees across the country who make donations with the expectation that the money would be utilized for religious and cultural expansion,” PTI quoted Sharma.
The core reason behind this issue is that the admissions were made purely based on merit, as the SMVDIME does not have a minority status. Hence, no religion-based reservation could be applied. The BJP's delegation demands the revocation of the first admission list.
People's Conference president Sajad Gani Lone slammed the BJP's demand reservations for Hindus in MBBS admissions. "Perilous attempt to communalise the medical sciences," PTI quoted as saying of Lone.
"The finest brains in the country sit for the exam and those who get selected work hard to become a doctor. And then these doctors serve people, treat them, perform surgeries," he said.
National Conference (NC) leader Tanvir Sadiq also criticised the BJP's demand to revoke the admission list. Tanvir said reserving the medical seats for students who have faith in the deity is "misguided and dangerous".
"When you communalise institutions, you are not just doing politics, you are dividing society at its core. If hospitals, schools, universities and medical colleges start deciding intake on the basis of religion, what kind of country will we become? Tomorrow, will a patient be treated according to the faith? Will merit be pushed aside to satisfy majoritarian demands? This is a recipe for disaster," Sadiq said in a post on X.
