In Jammu, the state cabinet led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is slated for a Wednesday meeting to tackle key policy matters, most notably changes to the job reservation scheme. Sources say the CM has scheduled a 9 a.m. session at the civil secretariat in the winter capital, where he is expected to decide on expanding the open‑merit portion for government positions and professional courses.
“To amend the Reservation Rules to rationalise quotas in certain categories, especially Residents of Backward Areas (RBA) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), to accommodate the proposed hike in Open Merit quota by capping the EWS quota at a maximum of 10 per cent, will be announced. Reservations under the RBA quota, once as high as 20 per cent, have already been reduced to 10 per cent amid concerns that influential individuals benefited disproportionately from this quota. The Government needs to cut around 10 per cent from various categories, excluding those mandated by Parliament like SC, ST, and OBC, to enhance Open Merit to 40 per cent,” the officials said.
“At present, reservation in J&K stands at 70 per cent. The highest share, 20 per cent, goes to Scheduled Tribes (10 per cent each to Gujjar‑Bakerwal and Pahari Ethnic Tribes), followed by 10 per cent each for RBA and EWS, eight per cent for OBC, eight per cent for SC, and four per cent for ALC/IB residents. Horizontal reservation of 10 per cent is provided to ex‑servicemen and Persons with Disabilities,” the officials added.
The reservation sub‑committee, formed on 10 December 2024, submitted its recommendations on 10 June 2025, after which the State Law Department conducted a review. Officials note that the proposals should be finalized at tomorrow’s cabinet meeting, with the final approval still resting with the Lieutenant Governor.
CM Omar Abdullah confirmed that the cabinet will tackle job‑reservation rationalisation in its next sitting.
“A cabinet meeting will be held. We were constrained by the fact that I did not want anybody to sabotage this by going to the Election Commission because of the code of conduct. Now that the code of conduct is over, the elections are over, the concerned minister will present the memo in the next cabinet meeting, and we will discuss it then,” he said.
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