Naga Students' Federation protests court-allowed medical seat for ‘non-indigenous’ candidate

Kohima, Aug 19 (PTI) The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) on Tuesday staged a protest opposing the candidature of Vatsala Phangal for a state medical seat under the Nagaland quota in NEET 2025.

Addressing the gathering, NSF president Medovi Rhi said the federation was "deeply discouraged" to learn that a non-indigenous candidate had applied for a seat reserved for indigenous inhabitants of the state.

He asserted that the 42 MBBS seats allotted to the state "belong to Nagaland," and that the rights and future of the Nagas must not be taken away by outsiders.

"This is our right and our future cannot be decided by outsiders," Rhi said, urging all sections of society to stand in solidarity with the NSF.

Vatsala had scored 455 with All India Rank (AIR) 1,13,803 and state Rank 1 under Category-III in the recently conducted NEET exams.

He clarified that the federation was not targeting any individual but defending the rights of Naga students.

However, NSF said, "While the candidate has listed an address in Kohima owing to her father’s current posting, it is an established fact that she is from Haryana. She is not an indigenous to Nagaland and does not belong to any recognised tribe of the state." Rhi expressed dismay that an army officer was "fighting for his daughter’s candidature".

"One person cannot decide the future of our Naga community," he said.

The NSF president thanked students, medical aspirants, and members of the All Nagaland College Students’ Union (ANCSU) for supporting the protest.

He announced that the federation will continue to oppose the candidature and prevent the nominee from collecting admission forms from the technical education department.

The protest comes in the backdrop of ongoing legal proceedings.

On July 28, the Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court issued an interim order permitting Phangal to provisionally participate in counseling for the NEET-UG 2025 Nagaland State Quota, while directing the authorities to keep one medical seat vacant until final disposal of the petition.

The technical education department had earlier rejected Phangal’s application, citing that she is not a Scheduled Tribe candidate and does not belong to any indigenous Naga community.

According to official guidelines, state medical quota seats are reserved exclusively for indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland who can produce the requisite indigenous inhabitant certificate and Scheduled Tribe certificate.

However, Phangal’s family, led by her father—an Army officer—challenged the rejection in court, arguing that she had studied in Nagaland, appeared for the examination under the state code, and should be considered eligible.

On Tuesday, the Principal Bench of the Gauhati High Court stayed the Kohima Bench’s interim order and fixed the next hearing after two weeks. PTI NBS NBS MNB