NSF opposes non-indigenous claim on State NEET seat

Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) on Monday staged an emergency protest at NSF Park before proceeding to the Directorate of Technical Education, strongly objecting to the candidature of non-indigenous candidates under the Nagaland State Quota for NEET 2025 admissions.
Addressing the gathering, NSF president Medovi Rhi expressed serious concern over the candidature of one Vatsala Panghal, who had taken the State government to court. He said the case had deeply saddened the student community and proved that Article 371 could not by itself safeguard the identity and rights of the Nagas. “It is our right and responsibility to fight for our future,” Rhi stated.
Rhi asserted that Nagas alone must decide their future and cannot allow someone else to decide it for us. Informing that the court had granted a two-week stay order earlier in the day, he questioned, “Is this a joke? How can they play with the life and future of our younger generation?”
He urged the student community to rise and protect their rights, while cautioning that the federation would closely monitor the developments during the 14-day stay. He cautioned that if the State government failed to protect the rights of the students and the seat was allotted to the said candidate, the federation would intensify and take its own course of action to ensure that it was not given away.
NSF education secretary Temjentoshi also voiced displeasure that outsiders were attempting to deprive indigenous people of their rightfully reserved seats, which, he said, undermined the very principle of the State Quota policy.
Speaking on behalf of the Nagaland Medical Students’ Association (NMSA), Senchumbemo stated that such incidents placed the right to opportunity at risk.
Pointing out that Nagaland was already lagging in the field of medical studies, he said the State received only a handful of central seats each year. He said that even one of these cannot be given away to non-Nagas. It is reserved for Nagas and should be for Nagas, he stressed.
NMSA demanded that Vatsala Panghal be disqualified from the Nagaland State Quota and urged stricter verification and screening mechanisms to prevent such cases in future.
Earlier, NSF in a press release had reiterated that as the apex Naga student body, it was duty-bound to safeguard the rights, privileges, and opportunities meant for indigenous people of the State.
It reminded that the State Quota for professional courses was exclusively reserved for candidates who were Nagas by blood and indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland, as mandated under existing policies and constitutional safeguards for Scheduled Tribes.
According to NSF, the candidate’s domicile and State affiliation is Haryana, and while she listed a Kohima address due to her father’s posting, she was not indigenous to Nagaland nor belonging to any recognised Scheduled Tribe of the State.