PDP stages protest in Srinagar, demands release of Reservation Sub-Committee report

Srinagar, Sep 19: PDP workers led by party leader Iltija Mufti staged a protest at the party headquarters in Srinagar on Saturday, demanding that the report of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on rationalization of Jammu and Kashmir’s reservation policy be made public and presented before the people.
Carrying placards and raising slogans, the protesters demanded immediate disclosure of the report, which was constituted to examine grievances surrounding the existing reservation framework and recommend measures for its rationalization. The placards called for the report to be released and publicly discussed, while also highlighting concerns relating to EWS and the residential-condition requirement.
Iltija Mufti, who addressed the protesters from atop a vehicle, accused the Jammu and Kashmir Government of delaying disclosure of the report and said the issue directly affected the future of students and job aspirants. She demanded that the recommendations be placed in the public domain instead of being kept confidential.
Iltija Mufti also alleged that government jobs in Jammu and Kashmir were being “sold” and questioned the government’s handling of recruitment and employment opportunities.
The demand for publication of the reservation report comes amid continuing debate over the structure of quotas in government recruitment and professional admissions. The Cabinet Sub-Committee was constituted by the Omar Abdullah Government in December 2024 to examine the issue after protests and representations from open-merit aspirants.
The committee was headed by Health and Education Minister Sakeena Itoo and included Ministers Javed Ahmad Rana and Satish Sharma. The committee subsequently submitted its recommendations to the Council of Ministers. The Government has maintained that the recommendations went through the prescribed approval process, while the contents of the report have not been placed fully in the public domain.
The reservation debate has particularly focused on the share available to open-merit candidates and the existing EWS quota. Reports on the committee’s recommendations have indicated a proposal to reduce EWS reservation from 10 per cent to 3 per cent and RBA reservation from 10 per cent to 7 per cent, with the combined 10 percentage points proposed for addition to the Open Merit share. The exact recommendations, however, have not been officially made public in full.
The issue has remained politically contentious, with open-merit groups repeatedly demanding publication of the committee’s report and a review of the reservation structure. Iltija Mufti questioned why the report has not been released, while also raising concerns over employment and recruitment in Jammu and Kashmir.
The PDP protest also comes against the backdrop of the Government’s stated position that the reservation proposal has gone through the Cabinet process and has required further consideration at the Union level. [KNT]