Scoop News

SMVDS Medical College Faces Uproar

12/1/2025 4:39:13 PM

K N Pandita

Chief Minister Omar Abdulla defends a bizarre and controversial event that happened recently at the SMVD Hospital at Kakriyal, Katra. The admission of MBBS students in the SMVD Medical College has become a subject of controversy.

The controversy erupted in Jammu and Kashmir after 42 out of 50 MBBS seats at the newly established Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) went to Muslim students in the first-ever admission cycle for the 2025–26 session. This development has sparked strong reactions from the BJP’s J&K unit and several right-wing ...

Minority Status for SMVDIME To Address Hindu Sentiments

Straight Talk

11/26/2025 9:06:01 PM

K B Jandial

The ongoing turmoil surrounding admission of the first batch of fifty MBBS students for the 2025-26 academic year at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) has exposed the systemic fault lines and sensitive issue of Hindu Muslim parity in J&K. What should have been a routine academic exercise has escalated into a full-blown crisis, fuelling unending public protests of different sections of civil society especially the Hindu organisations. It has caused public anxiety, student resentment, and institutional embarrassment. At the heart of the issu...