Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday called for granting minority status to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) and restarting its operations, asserting that the investment made in the institution must not go to waste.
Last month, the National Medical Commission’s Medical Assessment and Rating Board withdrew the letter of permission granted to SMVDIME for non-compliance with minimum standards. The 50 students, mostly Kashmiri Muslims, of the first batch were subsequently accommodated in other institutions as supernumerary seats.
The withdrawal of the letter of permission follows protests by right-wing groups.
“We did not differentiate between students on religious lines. For me, whether a student is Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Christian, or Buddhist—everyone is equal. As far as this medical college is concerned, from what I have read, an investment of around Rs 300 crore has gone into its establishment. That investment should not be wasted.
“I respectfully request that you grant this medical college minority status and resume its opeartions,” Abdullah said in the J&K Assembly here, pointing to the opposition BJP.
The chief minister was replying to a debate on the motion of thanks to the Lt Governor’s address.
He said there would be no objection if Muslim students did not study at the medical college and that they could be accommodated elsewhere, provided it was designated as an identified institution for their choice of students.
He said his primary concern was to ensure that future generations continued to get opportunities.
Emphasising the need to produce more doctors, Abdullah said medical professionals do not treat patients on the basis of religion and he had never seen any doctor in Jammu and Kashmir discriminate against patients on religious grounds.
“Even if the medical college ultimately had a majority of Hindu students, it would still serve the public interest by producing doctors for Jammu and Kashmir, who would go on to serve in districts such as Kishtwar, Doda, Jammu, Kathua, Srinagar, Kupwara, Budgam and Ganderbal, wherever they were posted,” he said.
He said that if there were objections to the student composition, the institution should have been declared a minority college, noting that the NEET system was accepted with full knowledge that admissions would be purely merit-based.
He said shutting down the entire college over this issue was self-defeating.
Abdullah said no one intended to question religious faith, but added that if faith-based concerns were genuine, the appropriate course would be to declare such institutions as minority institutions, noting that they did not require government grants due to sufficient private donations.
The chief minister said despite claims to the contrary, the first delegation to the LG opposing medical college admissions had come from the BJP. “While there may be debate over celebrations post closure of the college, it was the opposition that had created the issue, and he had now placed a solution before the House.”
Referring to the BJP’s demand for National Law University in Jammu, he said there are similar concerns as the admissions in such an institute would also be merit-based.
He questioned whether protests would again be held if Muslim students formed a majority through merit, leading to demands for closure of that institution as well.
The chief minister accused BJP members of raising the issue of discrimination with Jammu only when they had nothing else to offer politically, questioning why the same voices were silent when the age-old Darbar Move was abolished and announced in the Union Budget as a thing of the past.
The Abdullah-led government restored the Darbar Move, a practice under which the government used to function six months each in Srinagar and Jammu last year after it was halted by the LG administration in June 2021. The decision to revive Darbar Move was welcomed by people of Jammu, especially by the traders.
“The people familiar with the region had told me there was a significant difference between market conditions last year and this year, with markets now witnessing renewed activity, better business and increased footfall,” he said.
The chief minister said if the biggest injustice done to Jammu in recent years had to be identified, it was the cancellation of the Darbar Move, a decision which his government had corrected by restoring it.
“Those speaking of discrimination should have opposed it when it was actually taking place,” he said.
Abdullah further said the National Conference had consistently attempted to maintain parity between Jammu region and Kashmir valley, citing examples such as establishing universities in both regions while Kashmir was completely ignored when IIT and IIM were set up in Jammu.
