E-Paper Law Deptt not in conformity with Govt move on reservation - TopicsExpress

E-Paper Law Deptt not in conformity with Govt move on reservation to Paharis ‘State should take up matter with GoI for ST status’ Posted on September 25, 2013 by Dailyexcelsior Nishikant Khajuria JAMMU, Sept 24: The Law Department is learnt to be not in conformity with the State Government over according reservation to Pahari speaking people in Jammu and Kashmir. After examining the draft proposal, sent by the Social Welfare Department, the Law Department has the opinion that reservation to Pahari speaking people is not possible without declaring the community as Scheduled Tribes, official sources informed the Excelsior. For according reservation under the Constitutional provisions, the community needs to be first declared as Scheduled Tribes for which the State Government should take up the matter with Government of India and its National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, sources added. As reported earlier, a draft proposal suggesting eight percent reservation to the Pahari speaking people in Government jobs and professional colleges has been prepared by the J&K Social Welfare Department in consultation with the State Advisory Board for Development of Pahari Speaking People and the same was forwarded to the Law Department for its legal opinion last month. For accommodating the Pahari speaking within 50 percent maximum limit of total reservation, the proposal suggests a cut in five percent quota to RBA (Resident of Backward Area) category as a large section of the community already falls under this category. Even as the Social Welfare Department in its draft proposal has strongly projected the case of Pahari speaking people for reservation on the ground of economic and social backwardness of the community, the Law Department has a different opinion on legal point of view, sources said. There is no provision in the Constitution for reservation to a section of people on the basis of language and therefore Pahari speaking people have to be first declared as Scheduled Tribe for which the State Government should take up the matter with Government of India and its National Commission for Scheduled Tribes to examine the case, sources explained. On being pointed out that J&K has its own Constitution where reservation is accorded on the basis of area also, the sources claimed that quota to RBA and ALC was in conformity with reservation rules in Indian Constitution and Fundamental Rights under Article 14, 15 and 16. In J&K, total 43 percent quota is presently reserved under different categories, which included RBA (20 percent), Scheduled Castes (8 percent), Scheduled Tribes (10 percent), Actual Line of Control (3 percent) and Other Social Castes (2 percent). However, on the other hand, Kafil-ur-Rehman, the Vice-Chairman of State Advisory Board for Development of Pahari Speaking People, is confident of getting the issue resolved in consultation with the Ministries of Law and Social Welfare. “I am constantly in touch with the Law Minister and next week we will convene a joint meeting with the Social Welfare Department to sort out these legal technicalities and bottlenecks in granting reservation to Pahari speaking people as assured by the Omar Abdullah-led coalition Government,” he said. Giving the example of quota provision to Shina speaking people in Jammu and Kashmir, Kafil-ur-Rehman opined that officers were not aware of ground realities and the case of Pahari speaking people was fit for reservation.