SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, on Wednesday decided to forward the highly contentious report of the Cabinet Sub-Committee (CSC) on reservations to the Law Department for legal examination, amid rising political heat and social unrest over the UT’s existing 67 per cent reservation policy.
The Cabinet, which met in Srinagar, held a detailed discussion on the CSC’s findings. According to official sources, the report was placed before the Council of Ministers and debated at length before it was decided that the Law Department should examine its legal implications. The review will particularly assess whether changes recommended by the CSC — including any potential reallocation of quotas — can be carried out without violating constitutional and statutory mandates.
“There are legal complications in reducing quotas already given by constitutional and legislative provisions, especially to increase space for the general category,” an official source said. The Cabinet has not set a deadline for the Law Department’s review, suggesting the matter will take time before it returns for a final decision.
The CSC was constituted on December 10, 2024, in response to widespread protests by general category students and youth across Jammu and Kashmir. The protests intensified after the UT administration’s controversial amendment to Rule 4 of the J&K Reservation Act, 2005, which raised the total reservation in education and public employment to 67 per cent — leaving just 33 per cent for the open merit category. The sub-committee, comprising ministers Sakina Itoo, Javed Rana, and Satish Sharma, submitted its report on June 10, a day before its six-month deadline.
The current distribution includes 20 per cent reservation for Scheduled Tribes (10 per cent each to Gujjars & Bakerwals and Pahari Ethnic Groups), 10 per cent each for Residents of Backward Areas and Economically Weaker Sections, 8 per cent for Other Backward Classes, 8 per cent for Scheduled Castes, and 4 per cent for residents near the Line of Actual Control and International Border. An additional 10 per cent is reserved horizontally — 6 per cent for Ex-Servicemen and 4 per cent for Persons with Disabilities.
Critics argue that this policy effectively sidelines merit and marginalises large sections of youth who fall in the open category. The issue has triggered a rare cross-party outcry. Pulwama MLA Waheed Para of the PDP termed the reservation structure a “systematic embargo on merit” and demanded pro-rata rationalisation, stating that “upliftment cannot come at the cost of merit.” National Conference MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi and even People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone, who called the policy “a retributive tool” and a “political reset button,” have also backed the protestors.
The issue became politically volatile after the administration, in an affidavit before the J&K High Court earlier this year, defended the reservation policy and sought dismissal of a petition challenging it. This drew sharp criticism from opposition parties, forcing the National Conference-led government to backtrack, calling the affidavit “vague” and attempting damage control.
The Cabinet meeting also discussed post-Pahalgam terror attack revival strategies for the tourism sector and logistical arrangements for the upcoming Shri Amarnath Ji pilgrimage beginning July 3. Twenty-five tourists and a local were killed in the April 22 attack, which triggered cancellations and a sharp drop in arrivals.
Other departmental agenda items were approved and forwarded to the Lieutenant Governor for formal assent, officials said.
The reservation issue remains among the most politically sensitive challenges faced by the new elected government in Jammu and Kashmir. With the report now in the Law Department’s hands and no clear timeline for final decisions, the uncertainty is likely to prolong both the legal and political storm already swirling around the policy.
