"Find value of land, give up govt aid": Omar Abdullah on Mata Vaishno Medical college admission controversy

Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], December 3 : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said that if people are actually interested in having reserved seats in Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence in Katra, then they should consider making it a minority institution, and give up the government aid given to the college.
The J-K CM's comments come after a delegation of BJP MPs met with party chief JP Nadda, flagging the issue of the college. When asked about the idea of building "gurukul" at the college grounds, Abdullah said that "no one has stopped them" from making one.
"Why ask the same question everytime? 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," the J-K CM said.
He said admissions in college is merit based, since the college has accepted NEET directives too.
"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 on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the J-K further called on the Election Commission of India to ensure all political parties should be explained on the exercise too.
"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 said.
Earlier on November 28, National Medical Commission (NMC) rejected a proposal from the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence, Katra, seeking to place 100 per cent of its MBBS seats under the All India Quota (AIQ) to be filled through the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), following a row over MBBS admissions.
An NMC official said that such a move goes against existing 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 told ANI.
The Sangharsh Samiti, protesting against the admissions in the college, said that a majority of students in the MBBS admissions were muslim. The protesters have demanded a change in the selection criteria following the release of the list.