Jammu & Kashmir Releases New Reservation Policy; Youth Complaints for Fewer Government College Seats and Job Posts

New Delhi: The implementation of a new reservation policy has resulted in 69% of youth competing for 36% of available college seats and job positions in Jammu and Kashmir.

Tabish Mir, from Shopian town in South Kashmir, resides in a hostel situated in Srinagar’s Rajbagh area and spends around 16 hours a day studying at a private library. He is rigorously preparing for the highly competitive National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET UG) Exam to seek admission to the MBBS Course.

During his first attempt at the NEET exam last year, Mir, from the "general category," scored 552, falling short as per the 600 score set as the NEET cut-off required for J-K medical colleges. Now, Mir's chances of success have further reduced due to the new reservation policy implemented in the union territory despite a year of additional preparation.

What are the Changes in the Jammu & Kashmir New Reservation Policy?

Like other states, Jammu and Kashmir had earlier implemented a reservation policy wherein around 50-55% of government job positions, promotions, and educational seats were allocated to unreserved category students from the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), as well as special categories specific to J&K, such as Rural Backward Areas (RBA) and children of state police personnel, commonly known as JKPM.

Further, the remaining 45-50% of seats were left unreserved, meant for the "general category" population.

However, as per the new reservation policy notified on March 15, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has approved an extra 10% reservation for newly included tribes, including Paharis, in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

Furthermore, the Council has also given a nod to include 15 new castes in the list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Jammu and Kashmir, along with an increase in reservation for OBCs to 8%.

The increases have occurred without a corresponding increase in the number of available seats, resulting in general-category candidates – comprising the majority of the UT's population – competing for a reduced portion of opportunities.

FAQs