Srinagar- Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has convened a meeting of the Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet in Jammu on Wednesday, with reservation related decisions set to dominate the discussions. The meeting will be held at 9 am at the Chief Minister’s Jammu residence and is expected to take up several key issues, sources said.
One major proposal on the agenda is a plan to increase the share of Government jobs and seats in educational institutions for Open Merit candidates from the current 30 percent to 40 percent. This will be the first formal Cabinet meeting after the Civil Secretariat shifted to Jammu, a practice revived by the Omar Abdullah Government after being discontinued for more than four years.
With the Cabinet meeting taking place after over one and a half months, multiple Departments have forwarded agenda items, but the reservation proposal is expected to take priority.
According to sources, raising the Open Merit share will require an amendment to the Reservation Rules and a corresponding reduction in the quota for the Resident of Backward Areas category and the Economic Weaker Sections category. They noted that the EWS reservation has a maximum limit of 10 percent, which can be reduced if the Government records clear reasons for doing so.
The RBA category previously carried 20 percent reservation, later reduced to 10 percent, amid allegations that influential individuals had managed to get their villages added to the list to secure benefits for relatives.
To raise the Open Merit quota to 40 percent, the Government would need to cut reservation by 10 percent across different categories. However, sources clarified that the quota for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes cannot be altered, as these categories are protected under Parliamentary provisions.
All decisions cleared by the Cabinet will require approval from the Lieutenant Governor.
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary and Cabinet Ministers Sakina Itoo, Javed Dar, Javid Rana and Satish Sharma are expected to attend the meeting.
Cabinet Minister Javed Ahmad Dar confirmed that the Chief Minister has called the meeting for 9 am at his Jammu residence.
Another source said that issues related to electricity, reservation policy and winter preparedness are also scheduled for discussion.
