Cabinet sub-panel on quota has submitted report: Govt

The Government of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday informed that the Cabinet Sub-Committee on reservation has submitted its report before the Council of Ministers, which will be finalised after obtaining the requisite approval of the competent authority.

In a query by MLAs Sajjad Gani Lone and Shabir Ahmad Kulley where they asked whether it is a fact that open merit candidates stand discriminated against due to existing reservation policy with specific reference to their share in government jobs and admissions in professional colleges, the government stated that currently, reservation in government jobs and admissions in professional institutions is provided in accordance with the provisions outlined in the Jammu & Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 and the rules made thereunder in 2005.

“However, in view of a large number of grievances received from various sections of society regarding the existing reservation rules, the government constituted a Cabinet sub-committee to examine these grievances in consultation with all stakeholders and rationalise the existing reservation policy across all categories,” the government reply stated.

It further stated “The Cabinet sub-committee, after due deliberations and consultations with various stakeholders, has submitted its report before the Council of Ministers, which shall be finalised in due course after obtaining the requisite approval of the competent authority”.

The J&K Government also informed that the Supreme Court in Indra Sawhney vs Union of India (1992) held that reservations should ordinarily not exceed 50 per cent of the available vacancies. “However, it also clarified that this ceiling is not an absolute rule and may be relaxed in extraordinary situations where exceptional circumstances and peculiar facts of a particular state or region justify such departure”.

The government stated that the court observed that the 50 per cent ceiling rule laid down in the Indra Sawhney case is a rule of prudence intended to maintain balance between equality and affirmative action.