NMC Revokes Recognition Of Mata Vaishno Devi College In Jammu, 'Sangarsh Samiti' Welcomes Move
The medical college is the subject of heated political controversy over its admissions, as 42 of the 50 students in the inaugural batch are Muslims.
Published : January 7, 2026 at 8:05 AM IST
New Delhi: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has withdrawn the letter of permission granted to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi to run the MBBS course for the academic year 2025-26 over "non-compliance" with minimum standards.
The action comes amid sustained protests by several groups against the medical college, questioning why the majority of the MBBS students in its inaugural batch were Muslims.
During a "surprise inspection" by a team of NMC's Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) on Tuesday, they observed "serious lapses" in compliance with minimum academic, teaching and infrastructure standards and decided to withdraw the permission to run the MBBS course for the academic year.
According to the NMC, in order to protect the interests of students, the UT administration has been empowered to transfer students who have taken admission during the academic year 2025-26 to supernumerary seats in other medical colleges in Jammu and Kashmir, so that their education is not affected and their future is secure.
To protect the interests of the already admitted students, it has been decided to shift them to other medical colleges within Jammu and Kashmir, the Board said.
On the other hand, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Sangarsh Samiti, the group protesting against the medical college, has termed the NMC's decision as a "victory of its struggle".
Speaking to ETV Bharat, President of Sangarsh Samiti, Col (Retd) Sukhbir Singh Mankotia, said that he is grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for this decision, who, according to him, fulfilled the public demands.
He said that the Sangarsh Samiti had raised questions on the establishment, management and admission process of the medical college from the very beginning and now the NMC decision has proven their concerns right.
It is pertinent to mention here that the roots of the ongoing controversy at the SMVD Institute are linked to the admission process. The institution was allotted 50 MBBS seats for its academic year 2025-26, to which admissions were allowed through NEET. However, 42 of these 50 students in the inaugural batch were Muslims. This composition triggered intense protests from various Hindu organisations and political circles in Jammu, who questioned the selection and called it "communal", even though the government and administration had repeatedly said that admissions were completely based on merit.
About 60 organisations in Jammu came together to form the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Sangarsh Samiti, which staged relentless protests against the medical college. The Sangarsh Samiti not only raised questions on the admission process but also demanded the closure of the medical college. Recently, the Samiti also staged a protest outside the Civil Secretariat, Jammu, further escalating the situation.
Reacting strongly to the controversy, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday had clearly stated that the admission process was purely on merit and that the entire issue was unnecessarily politicised.
Before NMC's announcement, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had said, "The Government of India should close this medical college and adjust these students in some other government medical colleges of Jammu and Kashmir, as they can't study in the atmosphere of fear. If I were the parent, I would have been worried about sending my children there to study. These students had earned the seats based on merit, but the kind of politics going on there isn't good for them to study."
Honourable CM @OmarAbdullah addresses the Press regarding the protest against the admission of Muslim students in Mata Vaishnodevi Medical College. pic.twitter.com/V6QtZVk524
— JKNC (@JKNC_) January 6, 2026
Within hours of this statement, NMC decided to close this institution and revoke recognition.
All Students To Be Shifted To Other Institutes
An order issued by the MARB on Tuesday mentioned that all students admitted to the college during the counselling for the academic year 2025-26 shall be accommodated in other medical institutions in Jammu and Kashmir as supernumerary seats by the competent authority of the Union Territory administration. This means no admitted student will lose an MBBS seat due to the withdrawal decision. Instead, they will be adjusted in other recognised medical colleges in Jammu and Kashmir over and above their regular sanctioned intake.
The implementation of this relocation will rest with the Union Territory's designated health and counselling authorities, who have been formally informed of the decision through copies of the order. According to the order, the non-compliance came to light during a surprise inspection. The NMC's decision is effective immediately.
The institute had applied under the NMC's public notices issued on December 5, 2024, and December 19, 2024, for establishing a new medical college with an intake of 50 MBBS seats for the academic year 2025-26. After processing the application, the MARB granted a letter of permission on September 8, 2025, to start the MBBS course.
The letter of permission was subject to several conditions, including maintaining essential standards, allowing surprise inspections, providing accurate information and rectifying deficiencies before renewal, the order said. The MARB had reserved the right to withdraw or cancel the permission in case of misrepresentation, non-compliance or failure to meet regulatory norms.
After the issuance of the letter of permission, the commission received multiple complaints alleging inadequate infrastructure, clinical material and qualified full-time teaching faculty and resident doctors at the college. The complaints also pointed to an inadequate inpatient and outpatient load and poor bed-occupancy statistics, among other issues.
Acting under section 28(7) of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, which empowers the MARB to conduct surprise evaluations of medical institutions without prior notice, a team of assessors carried out an inspection at the college on January 2, 2026. This inspection formed the basis of the subsequent adverse findings.
The assessment report highlighted extensive deficiencies in faculty strength, clinical material and infrastructure at the institute. These included a 39-percent deficiency in teaching faculty and a 65-percent deficiency in tutors, demonstrators and senior residents against the prescribed requirement.
The patient load and clinical services were also found to be far below norms, with OPD attendance of 182 at 1 PM against the required 400 and bed occupancy at 45 percent against the required 80 percent.
Intensive care units reportedly had only about 50 percent average bed occupancy, while the average number of deliveries was approximately 25 per month, which the MARB termed "grossly deficient". Further, student practical laboratories in some departments and the research laboratory were not available.
Lecture theatres did not conform to the minimum standard requirements; the library had only 744 books against a requirement of 1,500 and just two journals against the 15 required. The report also recorded the absence of an ART centre and facilities for the management of MDR-TB, as well as gross infrastructure deficiencies in some departments, including the lack of separate male and female wards.
Only two operation theatres were functional against the requirement of five; there was no minor OT in the OPD area, and the equipment for para-clinical subjects was deemed inadequate.
The MARB cited Chapter V (Sanction and Penalty), Regulation 29 of the "Establishment of Medical Institutions, Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023", which treats non-compliance by a medical college as an offence liable to be penalised. The deficiencies enumerated in the inspection report were categorised as non-compliance under these regulations.
After considering the assessment, the commission concluded that the institute had failed to meet the minimum standard requirements specified in the UGMSR-2023 for establishing and running a medical college. Consequently, with the approval of the NMC chairman, the MARB decided to withdraw the letter of permission with immediate effect.
In addition to withdrawing the letter of permission, the MARB has decided to invoke the performance bank guarantee furnished by the college, in accordance with the terms of the original permission. This step underscores the financial and regulatory consequences of non-compliance for the institution. (With PTI Inputs)
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