The Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examinations has said that it cannot hold fresh counselling for MBBS admissions and asked the government to admit students from the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence to other institutions at its own level, The Indian Express reported.

On January 6, the National Medical Commission withdrew the permission for the institute to conduct an MBBS course for the academic year 2025-’26. While the commission cited infrastructural deficiencies and faculty shortages, the decision came against the backdrop of protests by Hindutva groups questioning why 44 of the 50 students were Muslims.

The decision left the 50 MBBS students who had been admitted to SMVDIME without a college.

The National Medical Commission, while withdrawing the nod for the MBBS course, had asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to accommodate these students in supernumerary seats in other colleges in the Union Territory. Supernumerary seats are additional seats in educational institutes beyond their normal intake.

However, the Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examinations, or JKBOPEE, stated on January 21 that creating supernumerary seats does not fall within its purview, reported The Indian Express.

It urged the Jammu and Kashmir government to allocate fresh seats for students from SMVDIME “at its own level in consultation with National Medical Commission [NMC] and the respective medical colleges in J&K”.

The JKBOPEE said that it could not conduct fresh counselling for the academic year 2025-’26 as it did not have the mandate to go beyond the schedule issued by the Medical Counselling Committee under the Union health ministry, PTI reported.

“Moreover, as per directions of the MCC, the data of 1,410 MBBS candidates, including 50 candidates of SMVDIME under question, has also been updated on their portal on the last date of joining, i.e. 31st of December 2025,” the board said.

On January 8, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that the government would accommodate the students in medical colleges near their homes so that their education would not be affected.

“But we need to think about the injustice done to the students by closing this medical college,” he had said. “People all over the country are struggling to get into medical colleges. Ours is the only place where a fully functional medical college has been shut down...”

Protests questioning the religious composition of students in the college were led by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Sangharsh Samiti, with members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, its parent organisation the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and other Hindutva groups also participating.

The protesters had demanded that preference be given to Hindu students, as the institute was set up through donations to the Vaishno Devi shrine. However, the college was not classified as a minority institution, due to which religion could not be considered as a factor for admissions.