All that remains of what would have been the first batch of students of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence in Katra, Jammu, is a WhatsApp group.
The students who got selected for the now scrapped course had created it in the first heady days of their admission, and used it to stay in touch after they were told abruptly that they would be redistributed across other colleges. The last day of taking admission to the new colleges assigned to them, spread across Jammu and Kashmir, was Thursday; since Friday, when the winter vacations got over, those in the Kashmir region too have started classes.
Apprehensive about the attention on them, ever since protests began over the fact that mostly non-Hindus had got admission in the Vaishno Devi medical college, the students are reluctant to talk now.
They mention though how the WhatsApp chats began with expressions of joy at finding a medical seat, giving way to anxieties after the protests began. Lately, the chats have been overwhelmingly about “relief”, that the stalemate didn’t drag on and that they will not lose an academic year.
But, there is a new worry in place: can they “catch up” with the course, given the time they have lost?
Of the 50 former students of the Vaishno Devi medical college, 22 were assigned to Government Medical Colleges (GMCs) in Anantnag, Baramulla and Handwara in Kashmir; and 28 to GMCs in Udhampur, Kathua, Rajouri and Doda in Jammu, by the J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examination (JKBOPEE) after counselling.
Except for the Anantnag GMC where eight students have been accommodated, the others all have seven each. All Kashmir students have now been accommodated in either Kashmir or in GMCs in areas where Muslims are in significant numbers.
Mutahir Ayoub of Anantnag, Kashmir, who has joined the Rajouri GMC, says: “I had returned home (from Katra) in utter confusion. My family was also worried.” But he kept faith in Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s promise, and the National Medical Commission’s (NMC’s), that the students would be accommodated within J&K by creating supernumerary seats, Ayoub says.
He had been worried the most about falling behind in anatomy, he adds. “The teachers (at the Rajouri GMC), however, have offered us help via supplementary classes. Our fellow students have also shown support. I think we will be able to manage.”
Mohammad Ilham, who joined the GMC, Anantnag, on Friday, says he and his parents spent a nervous couple of weeks. “But they are glad now that my academic year has not been derailed and that I will be closer to home.”
A student, who refused to be identified, told The Indian Express that, till the end, they had hoped that while there were protests, “concerns of any kind would be addressed in the next academic session” at the Vaishno Devi college and would not affect their batch. “Now we are just happy to be able to pursue our dream.”
The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence had got the go-ahead to take in students in September last year, and accordingly admitted 50 students from J&K based on NEET scores and JKBOPEE counselling. But, soon after its admission list became public, protests started in Jammu over the fact that 44 of its selected students were non-Hindus. Hindu right-wing outfits objected, noting that the institute was funded by donations made to the Vaishno Devi shrine.
However, since the Vaishno Devi institute is neither a minority institute nor a Central institute eligible for admissions under national quota, the admission list could not be changed. As reported by The Indian Express, the break-up of students was also in keeping with the trend in J&K of mostly students from Kashmir taking admission in medical colleges, with Jammu students leaning towards engineering.
While the classes at the Vaishno Devi medical college ran smoothly, the protests dragged on. Then, early this month, the NMC in a sudden move withdrew the Letter of Permission to the institute to run its MBBS course for the 2025-26 academic session, citing serious deficiencies in its infrastructure.
Speaking to The Indian Express earlier, the students and faculty had expressed surprise at claims of infrastructure problems. They had also pointed out that a go-ahead had been given to the college by the NMC on the basis of an inspection just months earlier.
