The Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE) has set January 24 as the new date for counseling for the admission of 50 students affected by the cancellation of the Shri Mata
Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence. These students will now be admitted to seven government colleges in the Union Territory.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced that the government has resolved the college allocation issue for MBBS candidates selected for the medical college.
The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) stated in a post on X, “With the release of the counseling schedule by BOPEE, the selected candidates can now continue their studies.”
According to a notification by Professor Gurvinder Raj Verma, Controller of Examinations at BOPEE, the 50 additional seats will be allocated based on the candidates’ NEET-UG merit and their preferences among the seven newly established government medical colleges.
The notification specified that eight students will be allotted seats at GMC Anantnag, and seven students each at GMCs Baramulla, Doda, Handwara, Kathua, Rajouri, and Udhampur.
It mentioned, “As per the letter dated January 21 from the Department of Health and Medical Education, it is informed that the Board will conduct a direct round of counseling to accommodate the candidates who were provisionally allotted seats for admission to the MBBS course at SMVDIME, Katra, in various rounds of counseling conducted by the Board, against the additional seats created in the GMCs within Jammu and Kashmir.”
The Board has scheduled counseling for January 24 at its offices in Srinagar and Jammu. Candidates who cannot attend the session in person are requested to authorise a blood relative to participate on their behalf, following the prescribed format. The representative must bring an authorisation letter and a valid identity card, including an Aadhaar card, reported PTI.
Supernumerary seats are additional seats reserved in educational programmes beyond the normal admission capacity, often to ensure representation of specific groups.
Earlier this month, the Medical Assessment and Rating Board of the National Medical Commission withdrew its permission to SMVDIME for failing to meet minimum standards.
It was stated that students admitted to the college during counseling would be accommodated in additional seats in other institutions in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Sangharsh Samiti, a group of right-wing organisations supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been leading a movement in Jammu since November last year, demanding the cancellation of admissions to the college and reserving seats only for students with faith in Mata Vaishno Devi.
The board had previously stated that it could not conduct fresh counseling for MBBS admissions and that the allocation of additional seats for those admitted to SMVDIME should be decided at the government level.
This clarification was made in a letter to the Union Territory’s Health and Medical Education Department, seeking the department’s intervention in transferring students from the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME).
