Minister Itoo says concerns already addressed in CSC report
Bivek Mathur
JAMMU, Apr 1: A Private Member’s Bill seeking amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004, was rejected in the Legislative Assembly today after being put to voice vote, with the Government asserting that concerns related to reservation have already been addressed.
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“The Cabinet Sub-Committee (CSC) report, which is currently being examined by the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, has already addressed the reservation related concerns of all the sections of the society,” Social Welfare Minister Sakina Itoo said, as she requested Veeri to withdraw his Bill seeking fixation of a cap on reservation in the Union Territory either at 65% or at 50%, in line with the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Indra Sawhney vs Union of India case.
The Bill was, however, rejected later by voice vote as Veeri pressed it against the common sentiment in the NC to withdraw it.
Initiating the debate, Veeri argued that reservation in Jammu and Kashmir has gone up to around 70 to 76 percent, which he termed as a “gross injustice” to the general category population, who constitutes around 65% of the total population.
He said the system needs a balancing mechanism to ensure merit-based social justice and claimed that open merit candidates are left competing for only about 30 percent of the available seats despite forming a majority.
He cautioned that reservation should not become an instrument of exclusion by disproportionately benefiting one section and called for fixing a cap either at 65 percent or strictly as per Supreme Court guidelines.
Citing figures to support his argument, Veeri said the representation of general category students in professional courses has been declining, alleging that only a limited number of such candidates secured seats in NEET and other streams last year.
He also criticised provisions like Rule 17 of SRO 49, claiming that seats surrendered by open merit candidates are automatically transferred to reserved categories, further shrinking their share.
Raising the issue of regional imbalance, he said several reservation categories do not adequately benefit people of Kashmir.
The MLA turned emotional during his speech and urged the Government to at least allow introduction of the Bill or refer it to a Select Committee till a final decision is taken on the CSC report.
He said the proposal would automatically become infructuous if the Lieutenant Governor clears the report, but in case of delay, the Assembly should have the option to deliberate on it.
Responding to the concerns, Minister Sakina Itoo said the issue had already been examined by a panel constituted by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah after receiving representations from various groups.
She said the committee submitted its report within record six months, which was approved by the Cabinet and forwarded to the Lieutenant Governor.
Reiterating that she cannot disclose the contents, Itoo assured the House that the report is comprehensive and has addressed all concerns, and urged the member to withdraw the Bill. However, Veeri pressed for its introduction.
Meanwhile, Leader of the House Omar Abdullah asked him to either withdraw the Bill or face voting.
Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather briefly allowed him time to reconsider, a move objected to by BJP MLA Sham Lal Sharma, claiming it is not an accepted precedence.
The Bill was subsequently put to vote and rejected, with only PDP members supporting it, while the ruling side opposed it.
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