Quota Issue Back In Focus In Jammu And Kashmir As Govt Frames Report To Rationalise Reservations

Twenty-year-old Tafazul Bilal has not pursued any college education after passing his 12th grade exam last year, as he lost time in protests against the Jammu and Kashmir government’s reservation policy. He is rather preparing for the next year’s  National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission in the MBBS.

“I couldn’t sit for this year’s exam as I was busy in the protests against the indiscriminate reservation. I am very keen to pursue MBBS, but for students like me, it is very difficult to qualify for the exam due to the seats being taken by students in the reserved category,” said Tafazul, a Srinagar resident. “ We are facing a grave injustice.”

Although a government panel has framed a report on the reservation issue, fulfilling the demands from students and activists entirely was not possible, said leaders from several political parties and officials.

In a post on X, Sakeena Itoo,  said today that the cabinet subcommittee constituted to examine the issue of reservations has drafted its report within the stipulated timeframe of 6 months, and it will be placed before the Cabinet.

Students who raised the issue under the banner of the Open Merit Student Association (OMSA), and had a meeting with Sakina Itoo earlier, said that they have sought the removal of the anomaly in the reservations in the Union Territory (UT), as those in the open merit category were not receiving jobs in proportion to their population percentage. 

Last year in December, hundreds of students protested against the reservations in Jammu and Kashmir earlier, and it was on December 10, 2024, the government constituted the cabinet subcommittee to review the reservation issue. The committee comprised Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Satish Sharma,  Minister for Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Itoo, and Minister for Tribal Affairs, Javed Ahmed Rana. Following protests by students over the statement made earlier by Sakeena Itoo in the Legislative Assembly that there was no timeline for the cabinet subcommittee to finalise the report, Chief Minister  Omar Abdullah clarified that the panel would submit its report within six months.

Also Read | Dissent In NC For Party Being Less Vocal On Article 370 Restoration, Rationalisation Of Reservations

Opposition to Pahari reservation, rural quota

Imtiyaz Chasti, an activist who has challenged the reservations through a petition before the High Court, said that they have been fighting against the discrimination that was meted out to the students in the open merit category, as the government has added new groups in the reserved categories.

The petition filed by  Chasti against the reservation has noted that the percentage of reservation in government jobs and admission in educational institutions in open merit category has reduced from 57 % to 33% while the reservation in scheduled tribe (ST) category has increased from 10% to 20%, Social Caste (SC)  from 2% to 8% and Actual Line of Control (ALC) from 3% to 4%, while new categories like 3% quota of children of defence personnel children of police personnel (1%), candidates in sports category at 2% have also been added.  The petition has further opposed the reservations of 10% in favour of residents of backward areas (RBA), stating that there was no legal provision for reservation on the basis of residence.  

With these demands, former Minister and senior BJP leader, Chaudhary Zulfikar Ali,  said that there is a “ fear among the Gujjar community that our reservation will be reduced.”

J&K President of All India Confederation of SC, ST, OBC Organisations, R K Kalsotra, however, sought a massive overhaul in the reservation quotas and not merely removing those from the upper caste who have been included in the ST category, which became a trigger for constituting the cabinet subcommittee.

“There are reservations here that don’t exist in any other parts of the country, like the RBA and ALC, which shall go. The OBC category people are not getting the reservation as per their population ratio in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Also Read | Centre Announces New Reservation, Domicile Rules For Ladakh | What Does That Mean?

‘Govt can reduce reservation quota’

A top government official in the Social Welfare department said the UT government can reduce the quota percentage of the ST category even as Parliament has granted reservation to the ethnic group. “Although the Parliament has granted ST status to the Paharis, the Jammu and Kashmir government has the power to decide on the percentage of reservations to different tribes and castes. The government can certainly reduce the reservation percentage as there are some new groups which have been declared as reserved after the abrogation of Article 370,” the official said.

Earlier on February 6, 2024,  Lok Sabha passed the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024, to provide the ST status to the people belonging to the Pahari ethnic group, Padari tribes, Koli and Gadda Brahmin. And within months of the ST status being granted to the Paharis by the Parliament,  the LG, Manoj Sinha, issued a notification on May 21 , 2024, listing Gujjar and Bakerwals among 12 tribes in the Scheduled Tribe 1 category, while the Pahari ethnic group was included in the Scheduled Tribe 2 group.

Division in NC  

The ruling National Conference has however been facing divisions within its ranks with the party trying to curb the dissent on the issue after a general bill seeking the quota cap of 40 per cent for reserved categories and 60 per cent for open merit by the Bijbehara MLA, Bashir Ahmad Veeri, in the Jammu Kashmir legislative assembly, evoked protest from several Pahari leaders in the party, sources said.

 Earlier, NC  MP, Aga Ruhulla, joined the protesting students seeking rationalisation. NC MLA from Karnah said that the “Paharis have not been given their due and the reservation should have been granted to us a long time back, so that we could have reaped the dividends.”

Earlier, after the Central government granted 10 percent reservation to the Paharis, several Muslim NC leaders joined the right-wing party before the 2014 polls.  Although the move didn’t help the BJP much electorally and angered the Gujjars even as the government didn’t reduce their reservation quota,  job seekers from the open merit category said that heavy reservation robbed them of employment.

The Pahari-speaking people in Jammu and Kashmir comprise 8 percent of the population, with their count being over 10 lakh as per a government survey of 2018, which was based on the 2011 census.

“Reducing the reservation percentage for the Paharis will be a disaster.  We can’t afford to deprive the Paharis of the reservations,” said a senior NC leader.

Several Pahari leaders from other parties have threatened to launch an agitation if their reservation is taken away.