Lok Sabha Passes Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Bill, J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill

Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 modifies the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004, which governs reservations in jobs and admissions to professional institutions for members of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and socially and educationally backward classes. Key features include the replacement of the phrase "weak and under-privileged classes" with "other backward classes" as declared by the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The bill eliminates the original definition of weak and under-privileged classes.

On the other hand, Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 amends the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which facilitated the reorganisation of the erstwhile state into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. This bill proposes to increase the total number of seats in the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly from 107 to 114, of which seven would be reserved for scheduled caste members and nine seats for legislators from scheduled tribes. As per the J&K Reorganisaton Act, 24 seats of the Assembly will remain vacant until the occupation in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir ceases. Therefore, the effective strength of the Assembly is 83, which the amendment seeks to increase as 90.

Other features include the power of the lieutenant governor to nominate up to two members from the Kashmiri migrant community to the legislative assembly, with one nominee being a woman. Additionally, one member representing displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir may be nominated.

"Kashmiri Migrants" are defined as persons who migrated from the Kashmir Valley or any other part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir after November 1, 1989, and are registered with the Relief Commissioner.

During the second day of the debate in the lower house of the parliament, union home minister Amit Shah reportedly said that the 'naya Kashmir' — ushered in through the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 — will ensure justice to those deprived of their rights for the last 70 years.

During the discussion yesterday, several members of the opposition opposed the passing of the bill when the Supreme Court's judgment on the validity of the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019 and the abrogation of Article 370 is awaited. The opposition also questioned why elections have not been held in J&K for four years since the abrogation of the special status of the region.