SRINAGAR: Peoples Conference president and MLA Sajad Lone has questioned the Jammu and Kashmir Government’s criteria for identifying economically weaker sections (EWS), arguing that the existing system produces a sharp regional disparity in the issuance of EWS certificates between Jammu and Kashmir.
In a post on X on Thursday, Lone called for a uniform definition of poverty, citing government data on EWS certificates and Priority Household (PHH) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) ration cards. He said the figures showed a significant difference between the two sets of criteria used to identify economically weaker people.
Lone said 92 per cent of EWS certificates were issued in the Jammu region and eight per cent in the Kashmir region. By contrast, he cited figures of 37.71 lakh PHH/AAY ration cards in Kashmir against 29.81 lakh in Jammu, which, according to his calculation, translates into a 55:45 regional distribution.
He questioned how the same government could use ration cards as evidence of economic vulnerability for subsidised food and other purposes while requiring a separate EWS certificate when a person applies for a government job.
Lone also objected to the asset-based criteria used for EWS certification, saying that, among other conditions, ownership of a residential house exceeding 3.68 marlas can affect eligibility. He argued that such a criterion does not adequately reflect poverty in Kashmir.
Citing replies to his questions in the Legislative Assembly, Lone said 7,580 government vacancies had been filled during the last two years. Assuming 10 per cent EWS reservation, he calculated that 758 positions would fall under the category. Of these, he said 697 had gone to Jammu and 61 to Kashmir under the existing EWS criteria.
Using PHH/AAY ration-card figures as an alternative basis, Lone calculated that 341 of those positions would have gone to Jammu and 417 to Kashmir.
Lone further cited an Assembly reply showing 49,672 vacancies to be filled and calculated that 4,967 positions would fall under the 10 per cent EWS quota. He said the existing criteria would result in 4,569 of these positions going to Jammu and 398 to Kashmir, while a PHH/AAY-based approach would result in 2,235 positions for Jammu and 2,732 for Kashmir.
The government has previously informed the Assembly that 40,672 posts were vacant under the direct recruitment quota across various departments, while 7,580 selections had been finalised by the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission and Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board since October 2024.
Lone said the regional disparity in EWS certification required examination of the existing asset-based criteria. He cited Kerala as an example of a state where ration-card status is used as an indicator of economic vulnerability and called for a single definition to be applied across different government schemes and recruitment.
His remarks follow a direction by Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather for the government to examine the EWS criteria followed by different states. Rather said the issue raised by Lone related to the definition of poverty rather than the percentage of reservation and asked the government to study alternative criteria.
Lone said the government’s position that changing the criteria was outside its domain was not acceptable to him and urged it to examine the issue.
