National Conference raises concern over ‘skewed reservation policy’ in J&K
Senior leaders of the National Conference (NC), including party president Farooq Abdullah and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather, have voiced strong reservations about the Union Territory’s current quota regime, introduced during Central rule, arguing that it disproportionately benefits reserved categories and risks undermining open merit. Their remarks have reignited a wider political debate over the balance between affirmative action and merit-based selection, with opposition parties flagging alleged regional disparities and civil society groups threatening protests if norms are not upheld.
Key concerns over merit and admissions
Addressing a gathering in Srinagar on Sunday, Dr. Abdullah warned that unchecked expansion of reservations was marginalising general category candidates in both education and employment. “General category candidates, if we keep increasing reservation, will be pushed to the status of the Scheduled Castes as was in 1947. Open merit is facing an injustice. An effort is needed to address this injustice. The current policy of quotas is taking jobs at the cost of merit,” he said.
He cited what he described as a growing chorus of complaints from high-performing students unable to secure seats in professional colleges. “Open Merit aspirants’ complaint is that a majority of medical, engineering seats etc. were going to people with 45% marks and not those with 80% and above,” Dr. Abdullah added, asserting that the system needed course correction to restore faith among meritorious candidates.
Speaker flags imbalance in EWS certificates
Echoing the call for a review, J&K Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather drew attention to what he termed a “regional imbalance in the issuance of Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) certificates,” a key prerequisite for availing EWS reservation benefits. “It is a serious issue. No section of society should be subjected to injustice. I have directed the government to examine it,” Mr. Rather said.
His remarks follow official disclosures in the Assembly that, over the past two years, 2,486 EWS certificates were issued in the Kashmir division compared to 24,058 in the Jammu division, a differential that several leaders argued could translate into unequal access to reserved opportunities between the two regions.
PDP alleges exclusionary trend, calls for population-proportionate quotas
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislator Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra said there was a worrying trend of “excluding the Kashmiri-speaking population from the governance system,” contending that processes tied to public employment were increasingly disadvantaging sections in the Valley.
Mr. Parra stressed that his party supports reservation for disadvantaged geographies and economically weaker sections, but not in a manner that penalises merit or sidelines particular communities. “No one is opposed to reservation for those living in disadvantageous locations or economically weaker sections, but it should not come at the cost of merit and the Kashmiri-speaking population. Reservation should be as per the population ratio. If the general category is 70%, it should get its due,” he said.
Raising another point of contention, he alleged that a stricter police verification policy was keeping qualified young people out of government employment. “Many aspirants are those who face charges and many are those who qualify but are denied the right to join because their relatives were separatists,” Mr. Parra claimed, arguing that the approach was collectively penalising families and deterring youth participation in public institutions.
Background: Quota expansion under Central administration
The current reservation framework in J&K took shape during the period of Central administration and has since been amplified under the Lieutenant Governor’s rule. According to political leaders critical of the changes, the policy as now implemented benefits reservation category candidates up to 70% in some spheres, a figure they argue tilts the scales against general category aspirants.
Officials and political leaders have pointed to recent policy moves that expanded the reservation matrix. The quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) was raised from 5% to 8%, and an additional 10% quota was granted to the Pahari community. Prior to these changes, J&K’s reservation layout included 8% for Scheduled Castes (SC), 10% for Scheduled Tribes (ST), 4% for OBCs, 4% for residents along the Line of Actual Control/International Border (LAC/IB), 10% for Residents of Backward Area (RBA), and 10% for EWS.
While supporters of the expansions argue they address long-standing socio-economic disparities across communities and remote regions, critics say the cumulative effect—especially once multiple categories are layered—diminishes opportunities for open merit candidates and fuels regional and communal grievances.
Civil society group threatens protests; demands adherence to norms
Adding to the pressure, a Jammu-based organisation, the Joint Action Committee Reserve Categories, warned on Monday that it would launch UT-wide protests if the reservation policy was not fully implemented in line with University Grants Commission (UGC) norms. The group accused authorities of obfuscating the current framework and questioned whether certain categories had been added in a manner that pushed the overall quota beyond conventional thresholds.
“There are misleading statements over reservation policy. Who included the categories like EWS, Resident of Backward Area (RBA) etc. above the 50% slab on reservation?” a leader of the committee asked, suggesting that the cumulative percentages needed urgent scrutiny and recalibration.
Political and administrative response
Mr. Rather’s directive to the administration to examine the distribution of EWS certificates marks one of the first formal steps in response to the growing disquiet. While there has been no broader official statement addressing the cumulative reservation percentages or the specific allegations raised by the PDP, the debate is expected to continue in both the Assembly and the public domain, with data on certificate issuance and recruitment outcomes likely to come under sharper review.
Leaders across the spectrum have indicated that any reassessment must seek to balance affirmative action for historically disadvantaged communities with the need to preserve confidence in open merit pathways. With student and job aspirant anxieties rising, stakeholders have called for transparent criteria, periodic audits of certificate issuance, and measures to ensure regionally equitable implementation.
What to watch
In the near term, attention will focus on the government’s examination of EWS certificate issuance patterns, as directed by the Speaker, and on whether the administration initiates a broader review of reservation overlaps and category thresholds. The Joint Action Committee’s ultimatum raises the prospect of protests if concerns are not addressed swiftly. Meanwhile, political parties are likely to press for disaggregated data on admissions and recruitments to substantiate their claims about the policy’s impact on both merit and regional representation.
Conclusion
The NC’s public criticism, backed by concerns from the Assembly Speaker and echoed by opposition voices, has brought J&K’s reservation architecture under renewed scrutiny. With allegations of regional imbalance in EWS certifications, contested increases in certain category quotas, and claims of meritorious candidates losing out, the issue has become a flashpoint. How the administration reconciles the imperatives of social justice, regional equity, and merit-based opportunity will shape the trajectory of education and employment access in the Union Territory in the months ahead.
