Rajya Sabha Passes Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Bill, Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill

New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Monday cleared two crucial bills, paving the way for reservation in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly for Kashmiri Pandit migrants and individuals displaced from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This significant development comes after the Lok Sabha approved the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, on December 6.

J&K Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 passed in the Rajya Sabha.

Both the bills were passed by the Lok Sabha last week. pic.twitter.com/Nn3mo1PqO6

— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2023

Addressing the Rajya Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah shed light on the changes in seat distribution based on the new delimitation commission report. He highlighted the adjustments made in Jammu, which saw its seats increase from 37 to 43, and Kashmir, which now has 47 seats. Shah firmly reiterated India’s claim over PoK, stating, “24 seats have been reserved in PoK since it is ours, and no one can take it from us.”

The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, amends the existing Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act of 2004. This legislation initially aimed to provide reservations in appointments and admissions to professional institutions for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other socially and educationally backward classes.

Concurrently, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, seeks to modify the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019. The proposed amendments propose increasing the total assembly seats, with seven reserved for Scheduled Castes and nine for Scheduled Tribes. To implement these changes, new sections 15A and 15B will be inserted into the Act, nominating up to two members to the assembly – one from the “Kashmiri Migrants” community and one from the “Displaced Persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.”