Srinagar, June 20 Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Friday that his government has accepted the cabinet subcommittee (CSC) report on reservations, which has been sent to the law department for examination and comments.
The cabinet met on Wednesday to discuss the CSC report on reservations. The ruling National Conference (NC) government had formed a CSC comprising five of its ministers to make recommendations on ‘rationalisation of reservations for government jobs’, in order to make the reservations open and merit-friendly.
As per the existing reservations for STs, SCs, OBCs, residents of backward areas (RBAs), residents of the Line of Control (LoC), physically challenged candidates and horizontal reservations, open merit candidates have to compete for only 30 per cent of the advertised government jobs and seats in various professional courses.
The revisiting of the reservation policy in J&K is a ticklish issue politically as well as constitutionally.
The increase in open merit reservations cannot be made unless the quota of various reserved categories is reduced. This is a politically sensitive issue that the UT government will have to face while trying to satisfy the demands of the open merit candidates.
Constitutionally, the issue is even more difficult. The present reservations have come into force after the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019 was passed by the Parliament following the abrogation of Article 370.
The moot point is whether a UT government can revise reservations made by the Parliament even if the same is accepted and passed by the J&K Legislative Assembly.
Placed between a rock and a hard place, CM Omar Abdullah has criticised both Mehbooba Mufti and Sajad Gani Lone, both of whom have been demanding more opportunities for open merit candidates.
CM Abdullah said that when Mehbooba Mufti was in power or when she needed votes, she did not speak about reservations, nor did Sajad Gani Lone do so when he was a minister, and today they are criticising the NC government, which not only formed the CSC, but also accepted its recommendations.
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