New Delhi, 5 December: Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill- 2023 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Amendment) Bill- 2023 in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Many members expressed their views on the bill.
Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill-2023 amends the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act-2004. The Act provides for reservation in admission to jobs and professional institutions to members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other socially and educationally backward classes.
Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Amendment) Bill-2023 amends the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act- 2019. Through Act-2019, the Second Schedule of the 1950 Act was amended to specify the total number of seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly as 83. In this, six seats were reserved for Scheduled Castes. No seats were reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
In the current bill the total number of seats has been increased to 90. It also reserves seven seats for Scheduled Castes and nine seats for Scheduled Tribes.
The bill states that the Lieutenant Governor will be able to nominate a maximum of two members from the Kashmiri migrant community to the Assembly. One of the nominated members must be a woman.
The bill states that the Lieutenant Governor can nominate one member to the Assembly representing the displaced persons of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
