On 12 January 2022, aspirants of nursing, paramedical, and various other courses approached Lawyer and Human Rights Activist Nikhil Padha to apprise him about their grievances. The students have been suffering for the last two consecutive sessions because of delays in the selection process by BOPEE every year.
In the matter, the students of B.Sc. nursing, who appeared for the examination in June 2022 and whose counselling was scheduled for September 2022 are still awaiting the selection list for the examination. This delay by JKBOPEE will have serious consequences on the students as the last date for admission stipulated by Indian Nursing Council, the regulatory body for nurses and nurse education in India was October 31, 2022.
The administrative failure on the part of BOPEE compels the students to either waste one year or opt for courses in other states. The students of J&K have been suffering the most because from all over India, J&K is the only place that has delayed the counselling process. This delay has put the careers of thousands of students at peril and has almost cost them years of hard work.
One more issue here is regarding the filling of vacant seats in Private institutions after the counselling process by BOPEE as per the eligibility criteria fixed by BOPEE. The BOPEE rejected the request of the association of colleges regarding the filling up of vacant seats at the institution level after BOPEE counselling. This has resulted in the wastage of seats and students who are eligible for these seats are still forced to go out of J&K. This will also lead to the mass unemployment of many persons working in these colleges and this will affect the survival of thousands of families across J&K. Students aspiring for these courses come from different backgrounds, with many of them coming from rural and hilly areas, and officials from BOPEE have known to be arrogant towards the students.
Other than the present issues faced by the students, one of the already existing issues is regarding the validity of the SRO 505, i.e. the SRO which resulted in giving powers regarding the admission to various M.Sc./B.Sc. Nursing, Post Basic B.Sc. Nursing and various other Para-Medical courses in government and private institutions of J&K to BOPEE. Before the enactment of the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019, the Indian Nursing Council Act was not applicable in J&K, and admission in the colleges of Nursing and Paramedical courses was governed through the J&K Nursing Council Act, 2012, and admissions in government and private colleges for degree and diploma courses were made by University of Jammu under the supervision of Para Medical Council. But this was changed after the enactment of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019. The Indian Nursing Council Act, of 1947 was made applicable in J&K after the enactment of the reorganization act and it envisaged the manner for admission in nursing colleges as per the mandate of the Nursing council act. But, according to SRO 505 issued by the government, the responsibility of conducting the admission process for the nursing colleges was given to BOPEE, which is against the provisions of the Indian Nursing Council Act. There was no need for giving the responsibility to conduct admissions to BOPPE when Indian Nursing Council was already in place. The monopoly which BOPEE has established over the admission process is on the basis of a SRO, which is without jurisdiction.
BOPEE has continuously violated various fundamental rights and various guidelines by the Supreme Court from time to time. It has violated Article 19 (1) (g) of the constitution of India by not
allowing the management to fill the vacant seats and admit students which is a part of their right under Article 19 (1) (g), i.e, the right to occupation. BOPEE by not carrying out its responsibilities has violated the right to education which is a fundamental right under the constitution of India, BOPEE is under a legal obligation to make sure that the rights of students not be affected by not providing them opportunities. The SRO, by not preventing institutions to fill vacant seats is violating Article 14 of the constitution, as it is detrimental to the public interest and also the students who wish to undergo various courses. The SRO has violated the judgment given by the Supreme Court regarding the right of the institution to admit the students in T.M.A Pai Foundation and others V. State of Karnataka. The SRO is also violative of Article 21 of the constitution by restricting the admissions of students from other states by prescribing unnecessary eligibility criteria of possession of domicile.
BOPEE has failed to carry out its duties and has proven to be an administrative failure, the responsibility regarding the conduct of admissions should be handed over to the respective universities and a fair judicial inquiry should be held to look into the violations and misconduct by JKBOPEE.
As a Human Rights Activist and a citizen of J&K, Nikhil Padha has decided to intervene in the matter and help the students fight the genuine cause of aspirants of J&K.
