Dimapur: The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) urged the Nagaland government to disqualify a candidate who is a Haryana domicile from consideration under the Nagaland state quota for admission through NEET 2025.
In a letter to the chief secretary on Friday, the NSF pointed out that the candidate, Vatsala Panghal, listed an address in Kohima due to her father’s current posting there. The NSF said she secured an all-India rank of 113,803 with a NEET 2025 score of 455.
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The student body stated that Panghal is a domicile of Haryana. It added that she is neither indigenous to Nagaland nor belongs to any recognized Scheduled Tribe of the state.
The NSF emphasized that the state quota for professional courses reserves seats exclusively for candidates who are Nagas by blood and indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland, as mandated by existing policies and constitutional safeguards for Scheduled Tribes.
The NSF reminded the Nagaland government of its duty to safeguard the rights, privileges, and opportunities meant for the state’s indigenous people.
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It also urged the chief secretary to direct the authorities to tighten verification processes to prevent non-indigenous candidates from exploiting the Nagaland state quota for NEET admissions in the future.
The NSF further said it consistently opposes and prevents attempts by non-indigenous individuals to claim these limited and competitive seats through temporary postings, forged affiliations, or misinterpretations of eligibility.
“Allowing such ineligible candidates would set a dangerous precedent, depriving deserving indigenous Naga students of their rightful opportunities and eroding the core of the state quota policy,” the NSF stated.
This month, the NSF also initiated physical verification of documents for all state quota candidates at its office in Kohima. This process includes mandatory scrutiny of ST certificates and indigenous inhabitant certificates to ensure full compliance.
The NSF added that any candidate who fails to prove eligibility beyond doubt must be declared ineligible immediately.