Winter Session: Centre proposes Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Bills in Lok Sabha

In the ongoing Winter Session, the Central government is poised to present two significant bills, the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is slated to move both bills later today, as outlined in the Lower House's business schedule.

The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, seeks to amend the existing Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act of 2004, with key provisions focusing on socially and educationally backward classes.

The bill encompasses individuals residing in socially and educationally backward villages designated by the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, those in proximity to the Actual Line of Control and International Border, and specific weak and underprivileged classes

.Additionally, the bill grants the government the authority to make inclusions or exclusions from the category of weak and underprivileged classes based on recommendations from a Commission. Concurrently, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, aims to modify the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, by increasing the total legislative assembly seats to 90 and introducing reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The bill further empowers the Governor to nominate up to two members from the Kashmiri migrant community to the Legislative Assembly, with one member being a woman.