AIMSA seeks abolition of common pool quota and rule 17 in admissions

October 27, 2025 by News Desk

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The All India Medical Students’ Association (AIMSA) has urged the Jammu Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (JKBOPEE) to abolish the Common Pool Quota and Rule 17 from its admission policy, calling both provisions discriminatory and inconsistent with national standards.

AIMSA Vice President Dr Mohammad Momin Khan speaking to The Kashmiriyat appealed to JKBOPEE to take immediate corrective measures to align its admission process with the rest of the country. He said that these provisions exist only in Jammu and Kashmir and must be removed to ensure fairness, merit, and better opportunities for students. Dr Khan argued that the continuation of these rules undermines equal opportunity and deprives deserving candidates of their rightful chances in professional courses such as medicine, dentistry, and engineering.

The association emphasized that medical and professional admissions should be guided strictly by national merit lists and eligibility criteria laid down by the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the National Testing Agency (NTA). According to AIMSA, Jammu Kashmir’s current quota structure places it out of sync with the rest of the country’s NEET-based admission framework.

Rule 17 of the JKBOPEE regulations allows certain seats to be allocated based on administrative discretion rather than open merit, which critics say creates ambiguity and limits the availability of seats for general merit candidates.

The Common Pool Quota, on the other hand, is a special category introduced to combine seats from different institutions or regions for specific candidates. Student groups argue that this quota system dilutes merit-based selection and operates outside standardized national parameters.

Earlier, all professional college seats in Jammu Kashmir were reserved exclusively for permanent residents (state subjects) of the region. This system was rooted in the state’s special constitutional status under Article 370 and Section 6 of the J-K Constitution, which defined “permanent residents.” Admissions were handled entirely by the J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (JKBOPEE), and only local residents could apply for medical, dental, and engineering programs. J-K had opted out of the 15 percent All India Quota (AIQ) introduced in 1986, meaning students from outside the state had no access to its colleges.

This framework began to shift in 2018 when the Jammu Kashmir government amended the Reservation Rules through SRO-49/2018. The amendment, along with subsequent notifications in 2019, introduced new allotment and allocation procedures that allowed certain seats to be pooled and re-allotted, what later came to be known as the “Common Pool Quota” or “Central/Common Pool” seats.

By 2019, JKBOPEE was actively implementing central and common pool nominations for MBBS, BDS, and other professional courses. This marked the first time seats were opened up beyond the state’s traditional resident-based framework.

Several litigations and Jammu Kashmir High Court orders between 2019 and 2021 addressed disputes arising from these admissions, as students challenged the fairness and legal validity of the new quota and its implementation.

AIMSA, in its statement, maintained that both Rule 17 and the Common Pool Quota go against the spirit of a transparent and merit-driven system.

The association said that multiple representations from aggrieved students have been received, pointing to the negative impact of these provisions on fair competition. It has urged the government to ensure that future admissions are fully merit-based, transparent, and aligned with national standards prescribed by the NMC and the Ministry of Education.