Blessed Births Inside The Reserved Category Homes Of Jammu & Kashmir
Key Points:
• 30% reservation for Open Merit means for 100% population.
• 20% reservation for 12% ST population.
• RBA villages increased from 18% in 1984 to 42% till 2019. The reservation increased from 2% to 20% in 1995 & slashed to 10% in 2019.
• 8% reservation for 7.5% SC population.
• 8% reservation for 7% OBC population.
J&K is a state with 75% general category population. Earlier, J&K had 8% reservation for SC, 10% for STs, 4% for OBCs, 4% for residents along Line of Actual Control/International Border, 10% for Residents of Backward Area (RBA) and 10% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWSs).
Now J&K has 20% reservation for STs & 8% for OBCs.
After Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir has also increased reservation (with new communities added to ST/OBC list). Now the state has 60% vertical & 10% horizontal reservation. J&K is a state with 75% general category population.
New Reservation Policy 2024
Jammu & Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha approved the proposal of the Social Welfare Department to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Rules, 2005. The new reservation policy for Jammu and Kashmir in 2024 with it several significant changes:
Reservation for New Tribes:
The policy has included a separate 10% reservation for newly added Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities like the Pahari Ethnic Group, Paddari Tribe, Kolis, and Gadda Brahmins. This has increased the overall reservation for STs to 20%. Around 924,485 (7.54%) of the population is scheduled caste and 1,275,106 (10.39%) belong to the scheduled tribes. 20% reservation for 12% ST population!
OBC Reservation Increase: The reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) has been enhanced to 8% from a previous lower percentage, following the addition of 15 new castes to the OBC list in the Union Territory.
8% reservation for 7% OBC population.
Reserved Backward Areas
In the case of reservation for RBA, which was slashed in 2019 from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, the politics started in 1984 under the Ghulam Mohammad Shah government. Shah, who was facing trouble managing his government, started dolling out reservations to backward areas, where his party men had interests.
The RBA reservation started at two per cent and reached 20 per cent in 1995. Initially, 18 per cent of Jammu and Kashmir villages were notified as backward. In 2019, the percentage rose to over 42 per cent.
For their political benefits, the political parties increased the percentage of RBA villages from 18% in 1984 to 42% till 2019. The reservation increased from 2% to 20% in 1995 & slashed to 10% in 2019.
In post-August 5, 2019, in Jammu and Kashmir, reservations stand at 60 per cent. It includes 8 per cent for Scheduled Castes (SC), 10 per cent for STs, 4 per cent for OSC, 4 per cent for Residents of Actual Line of Control and International Border, 10 per cent for RBA, 4 per cent for PSPs, and 10 per cent to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). Besides, there is a horizontal reservation of 6 per cent for ex-Servicemen and 4 per cent for Physically Challenged People.
The 15 new castes under OSCs, currently in abeyance, include Waghey (Chopan), Ghirath/Bhati/Chang, Jat, Saini, Markabans/PonyWalas, Sochi, Christian Biradari (converted from Hindu Valmiki), Sunar/Swarankar Teeli (Hindu Teeli along with already existing Muslim Teli), Perna Kouro (Kaurav), Bojru/Decount/Dubdabay Brahmin Gorkans, Gorkhas, West Pakistani refugees (excluding SCs) and Acharyas.
With these new castes, the list will go up from the current 27 to 42.
The new reservation comes in the backdrop of reservation enjoyed by 1493229 STs of the Gujjar/Bakerwal, Gaddi, Sippis, and a few other communities. Also, 924991 people of the SCs account for 7.38 per cent of the total population of Jammu and Kashmir (Census 2011) and have 8 per cent reservation. Besides, nearly 30 lakh other people enjoy reservations under the 4 per cent quota of the OSC, 4 per cent of Residents of the Actual Line of Control and International Border, 10 per cent of RBAs, and 10 per cent of EWS.
The new reservation arithmetic post-August 5 is likely to provide reservation benefits to nearly 65 lakh people at the admission, recruitment, and promotion levels in Jammu and Kashmir at the cost of 70% Open Merit/general category aspirants.
Impact on Open Merit Seats: With these changes, the number of open merit seats in government jobs and educational institutions has reduced to less than 30%.
