The Omar Abdullah-led Jammu and Kashmir government is facing intense political heat as the Cabinet Sub-Committee’s long-pending reservation review report reaches its final stage of submission, with Open Merit candidates, OBC organisations and Kashmiri regional parties all issuing starkly conflicting demands that threaten to tear apart the fragile coalition’s social justice narrative.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah confirmed that the contentious issue will finally be placed before the cabinet in its next meeting now that the model code of conduct for recent elections has lapsed. He acknowledged the delay was deliberate to prevent legal challenges during the poll period, but the reprieve has ended and multiple communities are now openly preparing for street protests if their demands are not met by the end of December.

At the heart of the storm is the existing reservation matrix, which currently stands at over 60 per cent of government jobs: Scheduled Castes 8 per cent, Scheduled Tribes 20 per cent, Economically Weaker Sections 10 per cent, Residents of Backward Areas 10 per cent, Other Backward Classes 8 per cent, and Actual Line of Control/International Border residents 4 per cent. OBC leaders, led by All India Confederation of SC/ST/OBC Organisations state president R K Kalsotra, have demanded the OBC quota be immediately raised to at least 15–27 per cent, citing the Mandal Commission’s national recommendation and asserting that OBCs form more than half of J&K’s population yet receive a disproportionately low share.

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National Conference MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi has added to the pressure by issuing a December 20 deadline for tabling a “balanced and equitable” policy, warning of mass agitation if the government fails to deliver. Meanwhile, Kashmiri regional parties led by People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Lone and PDP legislators have vowed to resist any attempt to scrap or reduce the Residents of Backward Areas (RBA) category, which they describe as the only meaningful affirmative action mechanism benefiting the Valley’s remote and mountainous population against domination by the more urbanised Jammu region.

As competing ultimatums fly and protest calendars are being drawn up across Srinagar and Jammu, the Omar Abdullah administration finds itself in an almost impossible position: acceding to OBC demands would almost certainly require slashing RBA or other regional quotas, inviting accusations of betraying Kashmiri interests, while retaining the status quo risks alienating a large section of the population that voted for the National Conference-Congress alliance on promises of social justice and equitable development.

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