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Jammu: In a major relief for the 50 students affected by the revocation of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME), the Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examinations has set January 24 as the fresh date for their counselling to adjust them in seven government-run colleges across the Union Territory.

According to a notification uploaded on the Board’s website, the 50 supernumerary seats shall be distributed strictly based on the NEET-UG merit of the candidates concerned and their preferences among the seven newly established government medical colleges.

The Board had earlier said it cannot conduct fresh counselling for MBBS admissions and that the allocation of supernumerary seats to those who were admitted to the SMVDIME should be decided at the government level.

The clarification came in a letter to the Union Territory’s Health and Medical Education Department, which sought its intervention in the relocation of students of the Institute.

Supernumerary seats are extra, additional seats created in educational programs beyond the normal intake, often to ensure representation for specific groups.

Controversy leading to re-allocation of seats

In December 2024, the SMVDIME was permitted to establish a new medical college with an intake of 50 MBBS seats for the academic year 2025-26.

After processing the application, the National Medical Commission’s Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) granted a letter of permission on September 8, 2025, to start the MBBS course.

Forty-two out of 50 seats were allocated to Kashmiri Muslim students, only seven seats to Hindu students, and one to a Sikh student.

Soon after, several Hindutva organisations like the Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the youth wing of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Sangarsh Samiti strongly objected to the seat allocation and conducted several demonstrations led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.

They insisted the money donated by Hindu devotees be used for the upliftment and development of their community.

However, amid the right-wing outfits’ protests, MARB, on January 6, withdrew the letter of permission granted to the institute for non-compliance with minimum standards.

It had said that those admitted to the college during the counselling shall be accommodated in other institutions in Jammu and Kashmir as supernumerary seats.