Amid a growing chorus against its, the newly-elected Omar Abdullah-led National Conference government had in November formed a cabinet sub-committee to look into the issue
Former Srinagar mayor Junaid Azim Mattu said on Tuesday said he will file a separate petition in the high court (HC) against Jammu and Kashmir’s reservation policy, which has drastically reduced the open merit posts and seats in jobs and admissions, supporting an earlier plea against the policy.
Mattu said the petition on the reservation policy filed in the court needs serious impetus and support and the best legal minds. “I will be filing an impleadment petition in the case with the best legal minds and in coordination with merit-supporting activists,” he wrote in a post on X.
The policy, introduced by the lieutenant-governor-led administration, before the assembly elections early this year had squeezed the general category (which form the majority of the population) to below 40% and increased reservation for reserved categories to more than 60%.
Amid a growing chorus against its, the newly-elected Omar Abdullah-led National Conference government had in November formed a cabinet sub-committee to look into the issue.
Notably, the NC, which won the elections in the UT, had promised to re-look at the reservation policy in its election manifesto and there were growing demands from candidates and the Opposition to rationalise the policy.
Last week, a political science professor, Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, who is the statehood petitioner in Supreme Court, had also approached the HC against the reservation policy, which he said gives “70℅ share to reserved categories and only 30% share to open merit candidates” in government jobs and admission to education institutions.
“There is concern and complaints. Our youth from the open category think that they are not getting their rights while at the same time those from reserved categories don’t want to lose their rights. That is why the cabinet has decided today to form a sub-committee comprising three ministers,” Omar said after the decision last month.
The demands for relook have become more pronounced after the Omar led-government approved the advertisements for 575 lecturer positions in various streams within the Jammu and Kashmir school education department. However, of the 575 posts referred to the public service commission, only 238 were for open merit candidates, triggering outrage.
