Srinagar: Tehmeen (name changed), a general category candidate, got a score of 614 in the NEET UG 2024 examinations, however, she was unable to get an MBBS seat at any of the government medical institutions in Jammu and Kashmir, forcing her to relocate outside of the union territory.
Her colleagues—one with just 350 points in the Economic Weaker Section (EWS) and another, a ward of defence personnel, with only 200 marks—got into UT's top medical schools. “This is a sheer injustice, Isn’t it?” she questioned.
Another aspirant, Vanishika Sharma of Jammu said that she had taken the NEET examinations twice, but the new reservation policy has reduced the number of general category places in professional colleges.
“The merit of the general category has gone too high, while the seats have decreased as the general seats were cut to include new reserved categories, which excludes us from jobs and professional colleges. The new policy is unfair,” she told ETV Bharat.
Know The Amended Reservation Policy
According to the amended Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act of 2004, the UT government provides more than 60% reserved seats to 30% of the population, which are divided into several categories. It also included Pahari-speaking persons and 15 other castes on the list, further reducing the possibilities of open-category candidates.
The updated policy provides an 8% quota for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates. Scheduled Tribes (ST) have 20% reservation (10 for Gujjar and Bakerwal and 10 for Pahari-speaking people (PSP), EWS have 10% reservation, Residents of Backward Areas (RBA) have 10% reservation, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), including 15 new castes, have 8% reservation. People residing along the Actual Line of Control (ALC) and International Border (IB) have a 4% reserve.
In the open merit system, there is a more horizontal reservation for persons with disabilities or PWDs (3%), children of defence personnel (3%), children of paramilitary and police officers (1%), and applicants with exceptional athletic performance (2%).
Despite the Supreme Court's 1992 decision in the Indra Sawhney & Others vs. Union of India case, which established a 50% reservation ceiling, the Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (LG) administration boosted the quota to more than 60%.
Pitch From Legislators For Review
Every time there are job and admission lists issued by the recruiting bodies in Jammu and Kashmir, it brings forth the debate on the controversial reservation policy implemented by the LG administration last year after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35 A on August 5, 2019, by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government.
When the recent Jammu and Kashmir Combined Competitive Examination 2023 result was declared, it again triggered a debate about revising the reservation policy that deprives the majority of general category candidates of employment and education opportunities in the government sector.
Out of the 71 candidates who were selected for the civil services jobs, only 29 candidates belonged to the general category, while the 42 selected candidates belonged to different reserved categories of the UT population.
From the social space, the varying opinions about reservation echoed in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, which held its first maiden session after the election of the new government. At least seven legislators from different political ideologies vehemently demanded the revision of the new reservation policy that was implemented in the union territory.
Arjun Singh Raju, the 41-year-old National Conference MLA from Ramban, said that the reservation policy should be revised. “The general category population is being strangled by the reservation,” he said.
Raju’s concern was corroborated by the four other legislators, including MY Tarigami of CPI(M), Sheikh Khursheed (an independent MLA from Langate), Salman Sagar of the ruling party NC, and Waheed Para and Rafik Naik of the opposition PDP. None of the other legislators opposed these seven legislators on the issue.
Para said the government must scrap this unjust policy as it is against merit. “J&K’s youngsters deserve inclusion, not exclusion,” he says.
Sagar says the reservation policy that was made in the recent past has flaws that need to be addressed.\
Meanwhile, PDP on Thursday demanded a "fair and balanced" reservation policy saying that the "youth were facing hardships in J&K".
"With unemployment level soaring and reservation policies affecting countless young lives, the PDP leadership expressed their concern for the struggles young people were enduring," the party said in a statement issued here after a meeting with its chief Mehbooba Mufti.
Students, Activists Speak
“The new reservation policy in J&K that prevents many youth in the open merit category from getting admission in professional colleges is not only limiting their opportunities but also takes a heavy mental toll,” says Sahil Parray, a student activist.
Citing examples of the NEET UG 2024 exams, Parray said the counselling results for Jammu and Kashmir reveal a significant disparity in admission between unreserved and reserved categories.
“An open merit female selected candidate with UT rank 736 and NEET rank 67055 scored 609 marks, while in the reserved category EWS, the last female selected candidate with UT rank 3854 and NEET rank 516235 scored 336 marks. This amounts to a difference of 273 marks,” he says.
The cutoff for the male candidates is higher. “For the Open Merit (OM) category, the last male student had scored 648 out of 720. He had a UT rank of 259 and an All-India rank of 28057. For the male EWS reserved category, the last male selected student had an NEET score of 404 with an All India rank of 366462 and a UT rank of 3279,” Parray says.
“This substantial difference of 244 marks has resulted in adverse effects on meritorious students from the unreserved category, who face much higher competition for limited seats despite their academic achievements," he adds.
Ehtisham Khan, a social activist who is vehemently campaigning for revision of the reservation policy, said that he has written to the chief minister, Omar Abdullah, to review the policy, which is discriminatory with the general category candidates. "I have sent a memorandum to the chief minister, and I hope his government will look at the policy," Khan told ETV Bharat.
The NC, in its manifesto, which it has promised to implement after forming the government, has said the reservation policy will be reviewed and any injustice and imbalance will be corrected.
Umar Jamaal, a law student at the University of Kashmir, said the Omar Abdullah-led government should consider socioeconomic surveys, data analysis, and public consultations to determine which communities genuinely require affirmative support. "This data-driven reservation would help to maintain a balance that respects both the ideals of social justice and the right to equal opportunity," Jamaal told ETV Bharat.
Even those candidates who are beneficiaries of the reservation are asking for its revision and rationalisation.
Naveed Bukhtiyar, a lawyer practising in Jammu and Kashmir High Court who lives in Uri and is eligible for the RBA category but has not availed of it, says that he favours reservation but the discrepancies must be removed.
“The creamy layer option, which exists only in OBC and EWS categories, should be included in all the reserved categories. And reservations should be proportional to population. The elected government must do a population survey, streamline, and monitor the reservation policy so that benefit reaches the deserving,” Bukhtiyar told ETV Bharat.
Nayeem Khan, a scholar of media studies and himself an ST (Pahari), says the new reservation must be rationalised and 50 per cent reservation should be kept for open category. "But it must not be scrapped considering the social and economic complexities of Jammu and Kashmir," Khan told ETV Bharat.
Nasir Khuehami, a prominent student activist, said that the reservation policy must be reconsidered and given as per the population criteria. “If the policy is not revisited, then it will lead to the marginalisation of the majority in administrative and educational setup," Khuehami told ETV Bharat.
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