Union Home Minister today tabled two bills – Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill 2023 and Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill 2023- related to Kashmir in the Lok Sabha yesterday and said that one of the bills seeks to nominate two Kashmiri Migrant community members, including a woman, and reserve one seat for people displaced from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.
The Lok Sabha has passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
The J&K Reservation (Amendment) Bill amends the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004, regarding reservation in jobs and admission in professional institutions to members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other socially and educationally backward classes.
On the other hand, the J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill amends the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which 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 increases the total number of seats to 90. Replying to the debate on the Bills, Home Minister Amit Shah said, the bill 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. Mr Shah said the Bills aim to give justice to the people who were overlooked in the past 70 years.