Reservation for Pahari Speaking People

12/02/2019

The Governor's nod has finally cleared the way for three percent reservation to the persons belonging to Pahari Speaking community on the basis of their linguistic identity, in the State Government jobs. After a long struggle and suspense notwithstanding the support of all political parties, Pahari Speaking People in Jammu and Kashmir finally got reservation as Governor Satya Pal Malik today gave his assent to the J&K Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2014, which was passed by both the Houses in February last year. The amendment provides for addition of a separate category of the persons belonging to Pahari community, clan or tribe having distinct, cultural, ethnic and linguistic identity among the socially and educationally backward classes (other than Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes). The methodology and authority for identification of Pahari community shall be notified by the Government.
Notwithstanding the support of all political parties, the Bill proposing reservation to the Pahari Speaking People had to wait around five years for final nod since it was first passed by both the Houses during then NC-Congress Government, led by Omar Abdullah in 2014. The earlier Bill, proposing five percent reservation to Pahari Speaking People by amending the J&K Reservation Rules was returned by then Governor N NVohra to the Legislative House for reconsidering the same in the light of its legal and other deficiencies. Thereafter, the Bill was forwarded by the Assembly to the Law Department and then the Department of Social Welfare, which sent it further to the State Commission for Backward Classes in February 2015 for its observation. As the Commission was lying headless and therefore virtually defunct till the appointment of incumbent JeetLal Gupta as its Chairman in 2017, the Bill kept gathering dust for two years.
With a view to ensuring a more focused analysis, statistics reflected in various officials surveys pertaining to the district of Poonch and Rajouri were also examined by the Commission as 63.46 percent of the total population of the twin districts are Paharis that makes up 74 percent of their entire population. Maintaining that Paharis were living in pitiable condition and their exact economic profile must be even worse, the Commission had explained that after partition of the country in 1947, geographical, social, economic and cultural links of the community with the plain of Punjab got disconnected while recurring disturbances and periodic shelling had rendered a good stretch of their land uncultivated. However, the much talked about legislation once again hit the roadblock as then Governor N NVohra again sought clarifications on veracity of the claims put forth for declaring the community as `Reserved Category'. The Governor's Secretariat asked the State Government to examine the matter in light of some objections raised by individuals against the Bill granting reservation on linguistic basis. Quoting a memorandum, submitted by Jammu and Kashmir Reserved Classes Union, the Governor's Secretariat listed seven objections against declaring Pahari Speaking People as Reserved Category and sought comments of the State Government in respect of the each objection.

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