The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) staged a protest in Srinagar on Saturday, demanding that the report of the cabinet sub-committee on Jammu and Kashmir’s reservation policy be made public, a day ahead of the Assembly’s autumn session.
Continuing her criticism of the government’s reservation and recruitment policies, Mufti said, “During the Omar government’s tenure, the age limit was reduced from 38 to 32, and a cap was placed on the number of attempts allowed. Following protests and representations by open-merit candidates, the Omar Abdullah government constituted a cabinet sub-committee in December 2024 to examine the matter. Reports regarding the committee’s recommendations indicate a proposal to reduce EWS reservation from 10 per cent to 3 per cent and RBA reservation from 10 per cent to 7 per cent, with a total of 10 per cent being added to the open-merit category.
Furthermore, the jobs being advertised and the recruitment processes currently underway where candidates are being selected and employed do not include anyone from this category at all,” Mufti said. Holding placards and raising slogans, the protesters raised concerns over the existing reservation system, particularly issues related to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and residential criteria. The cabinet sub-committee was constituted to examine grievances surrounding the reservation policy and suggest measures for its rationalisation. Addressing the protesters from atop a vehicle, Iltija Mufti accused the Jammu and Kashmir government of delaying the release of the report, saying the issue is directly linked to the future of students and job aspirants. “Three months after the NC government came to power, we had participated in a protest outside Omar Sahib’s residence. To halt that protest, Omar Sahib had assured ‘open merit’ students that he would bring the committee’s report to light and resolve their issues within six months. We have not seen that report to this day. We are here to fight against this. We do not want to see merit undermined. The protest comes amid an ongoing debate over the quota structure for government recruitment and admissions to professional courses in Jammu and Kashmir. The government maintains that the recommendations underwent the prescribed approval process, although the full details of the report have not been placed in the public domain. The debate over reservation has primarily focused on the share allocated to open-merit candidates and the existing EWS quota. However, the precise recommendations have not been officially made public in their entirety.
Two years have passed since then. Today, the youth here can take any competitive exam only six times.
