JNM | Journalist Hardeep Jamwal, Jammu
The Jammu and Kashmir government’s cabinet is scheduled to hold an important meeting in Srinagar today. The most important issue in this meeting is expected to be the approval of the central government’s response to the reservation report. After extensive study and review over the past month, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) has prepared a response to the central government’s questions, which the cabinet is expected to approve today.
According to sources, this meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, will be held at 12 noon at the Civil Secretariat, Srinagar. The main focus of this cabinet meeting, which will be held after nearly a month and a half, will be issues related to the reservation system.
The central government’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had previously raised some important questions about the reservation report sent by the Jammu and Kashmir government. Specifically, clarifications were sought on the data and basis used to reduce the reservation for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) from 10 percent to 3 percent and for the Residents of Backward Areas (RBA) from 10 percent to 7 percent.
The Social Welfare Department conducted a detailed study to prepare answers to these questions. The department’s response will now be presented to the Cabinet. After receiving Cabinet approval, the response will be sent to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, from where it will be forwarded to the Home Ministry.
Government sources say that proposals from various departments related to several development projects, administrative matters, and promotions of officials are also on the agenda for the meeting, but given the government’s seriousness regarding the reservation report, most of the discussion is likely to focus on this issue.
It is noteworthy that the government, headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, approved the report of the Cabinet Subcommittee (CSC) on December 4, 2025. This report recommended increasing the percentage of seats in jobs and educational institutions based on open merit.
The Cabinet subcommittee was chaired by Social Welfare Minister Sakina Itoo, with ministers Javed Rana and Satish Sharma as its members. In its report, the committee recommended reducing the EWS reservation from 10 percent to 3 percent and the RBA reservation from 10 percent to 7 percent. This proposed reducing the total reservation by 10 percent to provide more opportunities to the open merit category.
Currently, the total reservation in Jammu and Kashmir has reached 70 percent, leaving only 30 percent of jobs and seats available for the open merit category. This issue has long been a source of discontent among students and youth.
Under the current system, ST-I, ST-II, RBA, and EWS categories receive 10 percent reservation each. Additionally, Scheduled Castes (SC) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) receive 8 percent reservation each, and the ALC/IB category receives 4 percent reservation. A 10 percent horizontal reservation is also in place, benefiting ex-servicemen and persons with disabilities.
All eyes are now on today’s Cabinet meeting. If the Cabinet approves the answers to the central government’s questions, it will mark another important step forward in implementing the proposed changes to the reservation policy.
