Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said his government has rationalised the reservation policy in the “best possible manner” to make sure that all communities get justice and also to fulfil a major poll promise. He said the aim was to balance expectations without harming anyone’s rights.
However, he chose not to share the details for now. He said the proposal has already been sent to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for his approval, and it would not be proper to comment further until the LG signs the file. He said the process needs to be respected.
Omar spoke to mediapersons after chairing the first Cabinet meeting in Jammu after the resumption of the ‘Darbar Move’. Under this tradition, the government works six months in Srinagar during summer and six months in Jammu during winter, shifting offices between the two cities.
Reservations have become a sensitive issue in Jammu and Kashmir after the Centre added more communities to the reserved categories and expanded quotas in the UT over the past five years. This has led to strong reactions from various groups who feel the changes affect their rights.
There has been growing opposition to the Central government’s move to raise the reservation quota to 70 per cent in the Union Territory. Last year, a separate 10 per cent quota for Paharis and other tribes was introduced, and the OBC quota was increased to eight per cent, which sparked fresh debates.
Omar said the reservation policy was one of the 22 items discussed during the Cabinet meeting. He said the agenda was broad and included many important matters that required detailed discussion.
“We discussed many things like construction of the new 'Kashmir House' in Dwarka (Delhi), proposal of chief engineers in the roads and buildings department, and how to revive co-operative societies in a new way, besides the reservations,” Omar said.
He said the government had formed a Cabinet sub-committee on December 10 last year to study complaints raised by aspirants about the existing reservation policy in the UT. The panel submitted its report in October, and the law department also reviewed it before it came to the Cabinet.
"It would be wrong to comment on the minutes of the Cabinet meeting before sending them to the honourable LG. I will just say that we have tried to rationalise it as we have promised. We have also tried not to be unjust to anyone," he said.
Omar said the matter took time because reservation is a complex issue, and “it is very easy to do politics with it”.
"The Cabinet has tried to adopt a transparent and fair process. Now, the matter will go to the LG. I will not say anything more until the file reaches him. Whatever you want to believe, you can believe it. We could not have done a more detailed exercise than this,” he added.
"Every issue was seen and discussed more than once. This is the third or fourth time that the matter came to the Cabinet after the sub-committee headed by Minister Sakina Itoo submitted its report. We did our best to resolve this matter," Omar further said.
Omar added that the people who were "taunting" the government, claiming it did not do anything about the reservation, are threatening protests if injustice is done to any section.
Mehdi recently asked the National Conference-led government in the UT to resolve the reservation issue before the Winter session of Parliament ends, saying he would join the quota protests if no action was taken.
When asked about the stand of National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, who has been critical on reservation issues, Omar said the government did not frame the policy to please any individual. He said the decision was taken for the larger interest of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
He said people who earlier accused the government of not acting on the reservation issue are now threatening protests if they feel injustice is done.
Recently, MP Mehdi urged the National Conference-led government to resolve the reservation matter before the Winter session of Parliament ends. He warned that he would join quota protests if no decision was taken.
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