Centre reserves seats for J&K ‘terror victims’ in MBBS, BDS courses

In a significant decision, the Union Home Ministry has decided to keep a “reserved quota” for “terror victims” in MBBS and BDS courses for the academic year 2022-23 in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to an official notification the seats would be allocated to the spouse and children of terror victims from the central pool. The J&K administration headed by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has also given its nod to the notification issued by the home ministry.

Read | J&K: Police file chargesheet against LeT terrorists for killing soldier in Budgam

Following the issuance of the notification, J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) has invited applications from eligible candidates for the allocation of MBBS and BDS seats from the central pool for the eligible candidates.

As per the policy, priority would be given to the children whose both parents have been killed by terrorists followed by the children of families whose sole bread earner has been killed by the terrorists.

The third priority would be the wards of victims with permanent disabilities and serious injury caused by terrorists. The decision has been taken following the approval of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India.

The eligibility criteria will be applicable to the children of permanent residents of the concerned state or union territory or the children of the employees of the concerned state or union territory government.

“The children of the employees of central, other states, union territory governments on deputation to the concerned state, or union territory are also eligible for the reservation quota,” the BOPEE notification reads.

As per the BOPEE notification, the selection of candidates would be made based on rank obtained in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-2022 being conducted by the National Testing Agency.

The decision is going to benefit the hundreds of families, whose kin have been victims of terrorism in J&K. In the last two decades, the Pakistani government sponsored around 100 Kashmiri students whose father’s had been killed as militants.

However, several high profile people, including civil servants, businessmen, doctors, engineers, police officers and judges, managed to get admissions for their children in Pakistani medical colleges after paying a hefty amount of money to separatist leaders in Kashmir, who in turn would give them recommendation letters.

After J&K police investigations found that MBBS seats in Pakistan were sold to Kashmiri students to fund militancy, the Medical Council of India declared that any Indian student who wishes to pursue MBBS, BDS or any other equivalent medical degree from Pakistan shall not be eligible to appear for FMGE or seek employment in India on the basis of the educational qualifications gained from the neighboring country’s universities.