Home Education Jamia Hamdard University and HIMSR Feud Leaves Students Stranded

Jamia Hamdard University and HIMSR Feud Leaves Students Stranded

Jamia Hamdard University and HIMSR feud: Uncovering how governance battles and an 813-crore bungling allegation has disrupted campus operations, how students are caught in the conflict and are collateral damage.

By Devansh Das
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Jamia Hamdard University and HIMSR Feud

Jamia Hamdard University and HIMSR Feud Leaves Students Stranded | Photo courtesy: (Left) Special arrangement, (Right) HIMSR

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Jamia Hamdard University, a prominent institution in Delhi, has found itself at the centre of a deepening dispute that has led to the withdrawal of all 150 undergraduate MBBS seats and 49 postgraduate medical seats for the 2025-26 academic year. The decision stems from allegations of financial irregularities and governance lapses at its affiliated medical college, the Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (HIMSR), leaving hundreds of aspiring medical students in uncertainty amid ongoing counselling processes. The new developments have prompted questions about the institution's internal management. 

Established in 2012 as the medical arm of Jamia Hamdard University, HIMSR had built a steady profile in the capital's private healthcare education sector, providing allopathic training and contributing to Delhi's pool of medical professionals through its attached hospital. Yet this progress has been halted by the National Medical Commission's latest seat allocation, which lists zero places for the institute. Reports suggest that the decision was taken following a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit that highlighted the alleged diversion of ₹813 crore intended for HIMSR and its facilities between 2011 and 2023.

However, HIMSR and Hamdard Education Society (HES) refute that the seat withdrawal directly followed or was caused by the CAG audit, insisting it's solely due to Jamia Hamdard University's unilateral affiliation revocation.

“We Witnessed the Turf War Firsthand”

Dr. Ali Asgar (name changed), currently completing his internship at Hakeem Abdul Hameed Centenary (HAHC) Hospital, reflects on years of tension between Jamia Hamdard University and HIMSR — tensions that he says were visible even to students early in their academic journey. A graduate of HIMSR’s MBBS program, Dr. Ali recalls the power struggle as a defining feature of campus life.

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HIMSR
HIMSR | Photo courtesy: HIMSR

“This conflict didn’t begin overnight,” he explains. “It dates back to our first year, nearly four years ago. At the core of the dispute was a battle for administrative control—particularly, who had the authority to appoint HIMSR’s Dean and who would collect and manage student fees. The University wanted to place its own dean at the helm of HIMSR, but HIMSR resisted and insisted on retaining its own leadership. What followed was chaos—students witnessed it firsthand. At one point, the fight for control over the Dean’s office turned physical. There were bodyguards stationed there. Scuffles broke out. It reached a point where students were watching administrators brawl over an official chair. Eventually, HIMSR retained control, but it came at a cost.”

According to Dr. Ali, the situation deteriorated further in the years that followed. Faculty members were abruptly suspended, barred from entering campus grounds—a move that prompted student protests and drew the attention of local authorities. “The conflict escalated beyond internal politics,” he says. “Respected professors—some of whom had been teaching us for years—were suddenly denied entry without explanation. We were outraged. The students stood up and said, ‘You cannot treat our faculty like this.’ The matter became so serious that the police had to intervene, and the SDM was brought in to resolve the standoff. And the tension would always be at its peak just before the July 31 deadline, when we’re expected to pay our annual fees—which is no small sum.”

The tension, Dr. Ali says, had financial consequences as well, leaving students caught in bureaucratic limbo. “Each year, around the time fees are due, the University would issue circulars telling students not to deposit money into the HIMSR account. But as students of HIMSR, we naturally paid our fees to the institute—that’s where we studied, attended classes, and trained. Yet the two entities were fighting over who rightfully owned that money.”

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