JAMMU, MARCH 15: The Administrative Council which met here under Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha approved the proposal of the Social Welfare Department to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Rules, 2005.
The amendment was made in light of the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023; Constitution (Jammu & Kashmir) Scheduled Castes Order (Amendment) Act, 2024; Constitution (Jammu & Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Act, 2024 and recommendations of Jammu and Kashmir Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor; Atal Dulloo, Chief Secretary, J&K; Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor attended the meeting.
In light of the addition of four new tribes i.e. Pahari Ethnic Group, Paddari Tribe, Kolis, and Gadda Brahmins, to the Scheduled Tribes Order as applicable to the J&K by the Parliament, the Administrative Council approved 10% reservation in favor of newly added tribes taking the overall reservation for STs to 20%. To ensure that both already notified and now newly added tribes get benefits of reservation equally and separately, the AC approved an equal and separate percentage of reservation for them i.e. 10% each.
The AC also approved the addition of 15 new castes in OBCs and the enhancement of reservation in favor of OBCs to 8%, which will meet the long pending demand of the OBC category in the UT. It also approved changes in nomenclature and synonymy of some castes as recommended by the SEBC Commission.
Approval was also accorded to replace the term physically challenged persons or handicapped wherever appearing in the rules with the term Persons with Disabilities in conformity with the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
The said amendments shall fulfill the long pending demands of these communities regarding their right to adequate representation in government jobs and professional courses, which they stood hitherto deprived of, due to their social, educational, and economic backwardness.
Discover more from The Kashmir Monitor
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
