Reservation row: Jammu Kashmir CM Omar promises reforms

Srinagar, Feb 14: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that his party is committed to fulfilling the poll promise it made about reviewing the ‘Reservation Policy’.

The amended ‘Reservation Act’ has been a major contentious issue over the past year with a large section of the population batting for reversing the changes that “shrunk the share of educational opportunities and jobs” for the unreserved category in J&K.

In an interview with a broadcast company, CM Omar was asked what his reaction was to the educated youth believing that the fundamental problem (in J&K) was that 60 percent of the jobs were reserved for ‘disadvantaged people’.

And that 70 percent of the population did not have access to these jobs because they did not have the right label.

CM Omar replied that the issue was being addressed on two parallel tracks – through legal course by J&K High Court and by a Cabinet Sub-Committee which had been tasked with reaching out to various stakeholders to see what options were available with the government.

“The amount of room to play around with is limited,” he said.

The 2024 assembly elections manifesto of the National Conference mentioned that the ‘Reservation Policy’ would be reviewed and ‘injustice and imbalance’ corrected.

“We will work our way through the courts, let’s not predict what the courts are going to do,” he said.

About a Member of Parliament from his party having a different approach to addressing the expectations about changes in the Reservation Policy, CM Omar said he believed a political party must give space for differences in opinion.

The demand for revisiting the reservations has been resonating through various categories of aspirants after the new ‘Reservation Policy’ was enacted in December 2023, with the Lok Sabha passing the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, introducing reservations in employment, educational institutions, and the Jammu and Kashmir legislature under the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

The bill aims to empower the Pahari ethnic group, Padari tribes, Kolis, and Gadda Brahmins by granting them ST status, fulfilling a long-standing demand of these communities.

The reservation for the Scheduled Tribe category increased to 20 percent from the original 10 percent.