Sajad Lone, President of the People’s Conference (PC) and MLA Handwara, has publicly criticized the current reservation system in Jammu and Kashmir, alleging it is biased against the Kashmiri-speaking population and specific categories within the region.
- Scheduled Tribe (ST) Population:
- Lone stated that even the ST population residing in Kashmir experiences a “net loss.”
- He pointed out that they constitute only approximately 15% of the total ST applicants, indicating a disproportionately lower representation compared to Jammu.
- Resident of Backward Area (RBA):
- While the areas designated under RBA are proportionally similar between Jammu and Kashmir, Lone argued that the actual number of beneficiaries in Kashmir is lower when adjusted for population differences. He noted that the Kashmir population is approximately 7% more than Jammu.
- Government Committee:
- Lone criticized the government’s establishment of a committee on December 10, 2024, to address reservation-related grievances, stating that it lacks a defined timeline for submitting its report. He originally was told there was a 6 month timeline.
- This lack of a timeline follows the J&K governments prior statment that there was no specific timeline.
To support his claims, Lone shared data on the number of category certificates issued in Jammu and Kashmir between April 1, 2023, and the present. He highlighted the following discrepancies:
- Scheduled Caste (SC) Certificates:
- Jammu: 67,112 (100%)
- Kashmir: 0 (0%)
- Scheduled Tribe (ST) Certificates:
- Jammu: 459,493 (85.3%)
- Kashmir: 79,813 (14.7%)
- Economically Weaker Section (EWS) Certificates:
- Jammu: 27,420 (92.3%)
- Kashmir: 2,273 (7.7%)
- Actual Line of Control (ALC) Certificates:
- Jammu: 268 (94.3%)
- Kashmir: 16 (5.7%)
- International Border (IB) Certificates:
- Jammu: 551 (100%)
- Kashmir: 0 (0%)
- Resident of Backward Area (RBA) Certificates:
- Jammu: 1,379 (52.8%)
- Kashmir: 1,229 (48.2%)
