Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said if people genuinely want reserved seats in the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence in Katra, then they should consider turning it into a minority institution and give up the government aid the college receives.
Omar’s remarks came after a group of BJP MPs met party president JP Nadda and raised concerns about the college. When asked about the idea of creating a “gurukul” on the college premises, Omar said no one had stopped them from doing so.
“Why ask the same question every time? Who has stopped them? You make a gurukul. If you want to divide the college based on religion, then you keep it for minorities. The grant in aid which is given from the government, we can use that money somewhere else, we have no problems. The land which was allotted there, you find out the value of the land, stop the grant in aid given to you, change your status, become a minority status,” Omar added.
He said admissions to the college are based on merit, as the institute follows NEET rules as well.
"After this if you want to divide seats based on religion then you do it, who is stopping you? You agreed to NEET, in NEET only merit is seen. If you kids do not get merit list then how can you blame others?" he asked.
Speaking about the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), he appealed to the Election Commission of India to explain the process clearly to all political parties.
"If some political parties are against SIR, the EC should call those parties and explain what SIR is all about. I believe no vote theft can be committed using machines (EVMs), but an election can still be manipulated. The delimitation conducted here was also a manipulation. You increased 6 seats in Jammu to benefit one party. It would be better if EC calls all of us and explains what SIR is," he added.
Earlier on November 28, the National Medical Commission (NMC) rejected a proposal from the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence, Katra, which wanted to put 100 per cent of its MBBS seats under the All India Quota (AIQ) to be filled through the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC). The move was rejected after a row over MBBS admissions.
An NMC official said such a proposal goes against current policy. "We cannot have one institute in isolation to put 100% into MCC because there are government policies that this percent of seats goes to the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) and this per cent of seats goes to the state counselling," a National Medical Commission official said.
The Sangharsh Samiti, which is protesting against admissions at the college, claimed that most of the selected MBBS students were Muslim. The group has demanded that the selection criteria be changed after the list was released.
Also Read: Reservation rationalised in 'best possible' way: Omar
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