Farooq Abdullah Calls J&K Reservation Policy ‘Injustice’, Seeks Relief for Open Merit Candidates

Farooq Abdullah Calls J&K Reservation Policy ‘Injustice’, Seeks Relief for Open Merit Candidates

SRINAGAR, October 4, 2026 [VoM News]: In a follow-up to a demand by Farooq Abdullah, president of the National Conference (NC), for rationalisation of the reservation policy in Jammu and Kashmir, the party leader has pointed out that the increasing reservation quota in the state is pushing open merit candidates out of government jobs and admission to professional courses.

Abdullah called the current situation “injustice” to candidates who aren’t in reservation and asked the government to pay heed to their worries. It’s a problem that we need to work with somehow or we have to confront this injustice somehow.” When we continue to keep increasing reservations, those who are not a part of the reservation system will be put in a situation similar to that of the SCs at 1947, Abdullah said.

The remarks follow a current debate over the reservation structure in the state of J&K which is being pitched by the students and politicians. Amendment notified in March, 2024 provides reservation for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes, Residents of Backward Areas, economically weaker sections of the population and Residents of areas adjoining the Line of Actual Control/International Border as follows: 20 per cent for Scheduled Tribes, 8 per cent for Scheduled Castes, 8 per cent for Other Backward Classes, 10 per cent for Residents of Backward Areas, 10 per cent for Economically Weaker Sections and 4 per cent for Residents of areas adjoining the Line of Actual Control/International Border.

The changes came after other developments like the inclusion of the Koli and Gadda Brahmin communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes in 2024, and the inclusion of the Pahari Ethnic Group and the Paddari Tribe in the list of Scheduled Tribes in 2023.

Open merit aspirants have complained that sometimes the candidates who have secured comparatively high marks are not able to get the seat in professional courses while reserved category candidates secure seats with comparatively lower marks. Abdullah said the issue is that those who don’t fall into any of the reservation categories are now complaining too, referring to the objections raised by students against admission in medical, engineering and agriculture courses. Already the Omar Abdullah government has offered that it will be making changes to the reservation system.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee recommended a seven per cent cut in EWS quota and three per cent cut in RBA quota which will bring the Open Merit up to 50 per cent. The recommendations were adopted by the Council of Ministers and sent to the competent authority. The new reservation system (introduced in 2011) has yet to go into effect, however. The reservation issue has also widened to supposed regional variations in the issue of Economically Weaker Section certificates.

The issue was raised in the Legislative Assembly by People’s Conference President and Handwara MLA Sajad Gani Lone who pointed to the lack of coherence of distribution of EWS certificates with other markers of economic deprivation between Jammu and Kashmir. According to the latest data presented in Assembly, a major chunk of EWS certificates had been issued in Jammu with 92 per cent and 8 per cent in Kashmir, whereas the information from the ration-card data showed that the proportion of beneficiaries of the Priority Household and Antyodaya Anna Yojana was higher in Kashmir.

Lone has said that it is pertinent to question the current eligibility criteria of the EWS, whether it is a correct representation of the regional distribution of economically weaker households? The figures are not indicative of discrimination, as the eligibility of EWS and the food security classification are based on different criteria.

J&K Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather has also asked the government to look into the issue regarding distribution of EWS certificates in the region. I have directed the government to look into this matter and find out where there is scope of improvement to avoid injustice to any section of society,” Rather said. ‘

The larger reservation problem continues to be considered and the government states that its proposals for the enhancement of Open Merit representation have been approved by the Council of Ministers and submitted to the competent authority.