Shrine board likely to discuss minority status for Vaishno Devi medical college

Amid strong protests by several Hindu organisations over a majority of seats at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence being allotted to Muslim candidates, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) is likely to deliberate on the issue of granting minority status to the institution in its upcoming meeting. The date for the meeting has not yet been finalised.

Highly placed sources said that the representations and protest demonstrations by organisations seeking minority status for the college have reached Raj Bhawan. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who serves as the Chairman of the Shrine Board, is expected to take up the matter for discussion in the next Board meeting. The 76th meeting of the Board is likely to be convened next month.

Hindus constitute a minority community in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, while Muslims form the majority.

Senior BJP leader and MLA Vikram Randhawa said the party plans to raise the issue with the L-G. “Any institution affiliated with the Vaishno Devi shrine should have 100 percent reservation for Hindus. Non-Hindu students or employees should not be allowed even in the medical college of the shrine. We will take up the matter with the L-G,” Randhawa said.

A private medical college in Jammu—ASCOMS—currently reserves 25 seats for Hindu minorities of J&K, which are filled through the J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examinations.

Hindu organisations have argued that the medical college, funded through offerings made by devotees at the Vaishno Devi shrine, should be accorded minority status and that all its seats should be reserved for Hindu students. The recent admission process for the first batch saw 42 of the 50 MBBS seats allotted to candidates from the Muslim community, prompting protests from groups such as Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). These groups have reiterated their demand for 100 percent reservation for Hindu students.

Sources at the medical college said the admissions were carried out strictly as per the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) merit list, and no admissions can be cancelled. “However, if the institution is granted minority status, reservation for Hindu candidates can be applied from the next batch,” the sources said.

According to the Constitution of the SMVDSB, “The Governor of the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall be the ex-officio Chairman of the Board, and if the Governor be not a Hindu, then he may nominate an eminent person professing Hindu religion and qualified to be a member of the Board.”

VHP’s J&K president, Rajesh Gupta, told The Tribune that only Hindu students and employees should be part of the institution. “Since the institution has been built using money offered by Hindu devotees, only those who have faith in Goddess Vaishno Devi should be allowed to work or study there,” he said. “We expect that the Shrine Board will ensure the benefits of the institution go only to those of the Hindu faith.”

The last meeting of the Shrine Board, chaired by the L-G, was held in June. It was attended by members Mahamandleshwar Swami Vishveshvaranand Giriji Maharaj, Baleshwar Rai, Dr Ashok Bhan, Sudha Murty, Gunjan Rana, Dr KK Talwar, Kulbhushan Ahuja, Lalit Bhasin and Suresh Kumar Sharma. Sachin Kumar Vaishya serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the SMVDSB.