The Jammu and Kashmir Government is dragging its feet on finalising a report on the rationalisation of reservation categories in the Union Territory (UT), which is being studied by a Cabinet sub-committee.
The committee, in turn, submitted it to the Law Department for legal vetting months ago, and it has been bogged down since. Several opposition parties have expressed dismay and demanded that the Cabinet report be made public.
J&K’s reservation quota was revised under Central rule after new categories like Paharis, Paddari Tribe, Koli, and Gadda Brahmin, etc., were included in 2024. The open merit category was reduced significantly, to less than 40%.
The ruling National Conference (NC), which promised to rationalise the quota, constituted a Cabinet Sub Committee (CSC), which was to file its report in six months. However, no final decision was taken on the rationalisation and no deadline was set for the Law Department, evoking sharp reactions from Opposition parties and open merit aspirants.
“Despite the six-month deadline, the Cabinet has neither offered clarity nor transparency on the report, only vague assertions and now a reported referral to the Law Department. This ambiguity is not just disappointing but also damaging,” Engineer Ehtisham Khan, a student rights activist, told The Hindu.
