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New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a notification declaring December 26, 2023 as the date on which the provisions of Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023 will come into force.
The move comes days after the Parliament passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in the recently concluded Winter Session.
Two important pieces of legislation regarding Jammu and Kashmir were passed by the lower house of Parliament on Wednesday (December 6). These are the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which aims to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, and the Jammu & Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, aimed at amending the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004.
What Is Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Act?
The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004. The Act provides reservation in jobs and admission in professional institutions to members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other socially and educationally backward classes.
The Bill substitutes weak and under-privileged classes with other backward classes as declared by the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
What Is Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill?
Another bill, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, amends the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. The 2019 Act amended the Second Schedule of the 1950 Act to specify the total number of seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly to be 83. The Bill will increase the total number of seats to 90.
It also reserves seven seats for Scheduled Castes and nine seats for Scheduled Tribes. The Bill adds that the Lieutenant Governor may nominate up to two members from the Kashmiri migrant community to the Legislative Assembly. One of the nominated members must be a woman.
Migrants are defined as persons who migrated from the Kashmir Valley or any other part of the State of Jammu and Kashmir after 1st November 1989 and are registered with the Relief Commission.
(With Inputs From Agencies)
