Vaishno Devi Medical College Loses Recognition Amid Admission Row, Hate Reactions Surface Online

Jammu, January 8 (TNA) The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) in Jammu, which recently hit headlines after right-wing groups protested the high number of Muslim students in its first MBBS batch, has now lost its recognition from the National Medical Commission (NMC).

The Medical Assessment and Rating Board of the NMC has withdrawn the Letter of Permission for the 50-seat MBBS course, citing “gross and substantial” deficiencies in infrastructure, clinical material, faculty strength and resident doctors, warning that continuation of the college in such a state would jeopardise the quality of medical education.

The college was at the centre of a political storm after it emerged that more than 40 of the 50 students admitted in the inaugural 2025–26 MBBS batch were Muslims, with only a handful of Hindu and Sikh students, despite the institution being run by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board.

Several right-wing and shrine-linked organisations in Jammu had held protests demanding that the admission list be scrapped and that the college primarily cater to Hindu students, even calling for the college to be shut down.

Following multiple complaints, the NMC ordered a surprise inspection, during which experts reportedly found serious non-compliance with its 2023 regulations, including poor hospital bed occupancy, lack of adequate clinical exposure, and major gaps in labs and teaching facilities.

On the basis of this report, the regulator decided to revoke permission for the college’s MBBS programme with immediate effect and directed that all 50 students already admitted be shifted as supernumerary seats to other recognised medical colleges in Jammu and Kashmir so that none loses their academic year.