Reservation proposal: Cabinet gives go-ahead to reply on RBA, EWS cuts

Srinagar, Jun 23: The Cabinet on Tuesday cleared its response to the queries raised by the Union Government regarding the Cabinet’s proposal on reservation, sources disclosed.
Sources said that the Cabinet, which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, discussed the draft reply prepared by the Social Welfare Department, in consultation with Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, to queries raised by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on the Cabinet proposal for reservation.
“The Cabinet gave its go-ahead to the response,” they said.
According to sources, the reply addresses the query on the justification for a three percent reduction in the Reserved Backward Area (RBA) category and a seven percent reduction in the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category.
The reply, sources added, justified the cut in RBA on the grounds that Ladakh is no longer part of Jammu & Kashmir and its areas were earlier covered under reservation in the RBA category.
It has also been reliably learnt that the government justified the RBA cut by noting that several areas entitled under it are already covered under other categories of reservation.
Sources further said that the government justified the cut in EWS on the grounds that their population in Jammu & Kashmir is smaller compared to other states.
On December 4, 2025, the UT Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had approved the reservation report prepared by a three-member Cabinet sub-committee led by Minister Sakina Itoo.
The Cabinet proposal was forwarded to the Lieutenant Governor for approval, who then sent it to the Ministry of Home Affairs for prior reference. The MHA returned the proposal, raising certain queries on it. (KNO)