Srinagar: The skewed reservation policy adopted by J&K after Article 370 was read down in 2019 has led to residents of the Jammu region entering the reservation quotas in what experts believe are disproportionate numbers.
In the aftermath of J&K’s demotion into a union territory, 70% quota is reserved in government jobs and higher educational institutions for various categories, including for socially and educationally backward classes, disabled persons and children of defence personnel in J&K.
Official data presented in the ongoing budget session of the J&K assembly raises fears of disempowerment of the people living in the Kashmir Valley.
The data shows that 459,493 residents of Jammu were issued Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificates while the number was only 79,813 in Kashmir. These certificates were issued from April 1 2023 till March 15 2025. The Scheduled Caste (SC), which has 8% percent quota, benefitted 79,813 Jammu residents and none in Kashmir.
The ST quota was restricted to 10% in J&K but after the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)-led Union government granted tribal status to the Pahari-speaking population of J&K last year along with Gadda Brahmin, Koli and Paddari tribes – a move widely criticised in J&K, the quota for STs was increased.
Following an amendment to J&K Reservation Rules 2005 in March last year by the Raj Bhawan, the ST quota stands at 20% in J&K. Cumulatively, 28% seats are reserved for J&K’s SC and ST communities, who form only about 18% of the population, according to the Census 2011.
The data tabled in the assembly on a query by the Peoples Conference (PC) chairman Sajad Lone also shows that 268,551 and 1,379 residents of Jammu region were respectively issued reserved category certificates under ‘Actual Line of Control’ and ‘International Border’ (4% of total quota), and ‘Backwards Areas’ (10% of total quota) while 16, zero and 1,229 residents were covered under these categories in Kashmir.
In Jammu, 27,420 residents were granted ‘Economically Weaker Section’ category certificates (10% of total quota) while in Kashmir only 2,273 such beneficiaries were covered.
The skewed reservation rules have left candidates outside the purview of these categories in a flux. “They form nearly 69.3% of the population but have only 30% seats left to contest, which are also open for aspirants from open merit and reserved categories from across the country,” according to Sahil Parray, a Kashmiri student activist.
Balance tilting
For the political observers, the BJP-led government is successfully pushing its social engineering project in J&K to tilt the balance of power in favour of Jammu while disempowering the Muslim majority Kashmir who will find lesser representation in medical and engineering fields, and higher echelons of power and decision-making in the Union territory in coming years.
However, these observers believe that the issue could also snowball into a political crisis for the ruling National Conference government led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as the committee, which has been set up to rationalise the reservation quotas, submits its report in May this year.
Jammu-based political analyst Zafar Chaudhary said that the Union territory government was not in a position to fiddle with the reservation quota which had been allocated to the SC and the ST population of Jammu and Kashmir under the act of parliament.
“The truth is that all the political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have been complacent on the issue to appease their electoral constituencies. The reservation quota for EWS category in J&K, which was created with a presidential reference when J&K was a state, became a test case for the political parties and not one political party strongly protested because they didn’t want to offend their voters,” Chaudhary said.
However, a PC leader told The Wire that the EWS quota was meant to neutralise the impact of caste-based and other reservations on the people of Kashmir, “The revenue department should explain why people of Kashmir aren’t benefiting from EWS quota. An investigation should be ordered into the issue,” he said, wishing to remain anonymous.
The reservation rules could soon attain political colours as the tribal Paharis who are the newest beneficiaries of the skewed reservation police and comprise around eight percent population of J&K according to an unofficial census, have threatened to protest any attempt to fiddle with their quota.
Prof Noor Ahmad Baba, former dean of Social Science at the University of Kashmir, said that it would not be fair to blame the Abdullah government for the skewed reservation quotas. However, now it is a challenge for his government to correct the distortions in the policy, he said.
“It is going to be difficult for it to do the balancing act in between various forces with divergent interests,” he said.
Senior NC leader and Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, Syed Aga Ruhullah, has also taken on the party over the issue which is expected to gain momentum in coming weeks as the deadline nears for the committee to submit its report.
“The reservation should be proportionate to the population of different communities in Jammu and Kashmir. The quota of several communities is higher than their population. It needs to be rationalised,” the PC leader quoted above said.
