The National Medical Commission (NMC) has yanked approval for the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) in Jammu and Kashmir to run its MBBS program, citing glaring infrastructure and staffing gaps uncovered in a surprise inspection. This bombshell decision lands smack in the middle of a fiery row over the college's first batch of admissions, where a majority of selected students hailed from the Muslim community.

The trouble kicked off last year when SMVDIME welcomed its inaugural 50 MBBS students for the 2025-26 session via NEET scores. Reports pegged 42 to 46 spots going to Muslim candidates on merit, sparking outrage from local Hindu outfits tied to RSS and BJP groups. Protesters swarmed government buildings, arguing the shrine-funded institution—tied to the sacred Vaishno Devi pilgrimage site—should prioritize all-India quota seats to reflect its donor base and prevent any "demographic imbalance." The institute had repeatedly sought NMC nod for such quotas, but those pleas fell on deaf ears until the recent crackdown.

NMC's Medical Assessment and Rating Board swooped in unannounced on January 2, painting a grim picture of the college's readiness. Faculty shortages topped the list at 39% for teachers and a whopping 65% for tutors, senior residents, and demonstrators. Patient numbers were dismal too: outpatient visits scraped by at 182 daily against a mandated 400, bed occupancy lingered at 45% (needs 80%), and deliveries clocked just 25 per month.

Infrastructure woes piled on—no minor operation theater in OPD, only two out of five OTs operational, missing labs for hands-on training and research, a library stocked with just 744 books (short of 1,500), and basics like separate male/female wards or MDR-TB units absent. Even lecture halls failed size standards, raising red flags on training quality for aspiring doctors.

In a silver lining, the 50 affected students get supernumerary seats at other Jammu and Kashmir medical colleges, dodging academic derailment. Yet this revocation spotlights NMC's zero-tolerance stance on new setups amid India's doctor shortage crisis—echoing past cases where hasty launches led to similar pullbacks. With J&K now home to 13 such colleges, the episode serves as a stark warning: merit alone won't cut it without rock-solid facilities to back it up.