Reservation Bill awaits Raj Bhavan nod UMER MAQBOOL Srinagar, Nov 26: The fate of a bill seeking reservation for Pahari-speaking people in J&K is hanging in balance with Raj Bhavan “putting on hold” its assent following questions over its legal validity, sources told Greater Kashmir. Authoritative sources said the Governor NN Vohra is yet to convey his dissent or approval to the Bill sent to him for concurrence in the first week of October. The Bill along with several other legislations was cleared by the state legislature during its last session in August. “All the bills, barring the reservation Bill, were cleared by Raj Bhavan,” they said, adding, “Raj Bhavan is treading cautiously on the issue after different quarters questioned the legality of the Bill.” Sources said there is a view that the Bill is “ultra vires since it violates Article 14 and 16 of Constitution of India– the provisions applicable to Jammu and Kashmir too.” “The argument propounded against reservation for Paharis is that language cannot be a criteria for declaring people as economically, socially and educationally backward, for the purpose of granting them reservation,” they said. A senior official in Raj Bhavan said the bill is under examination. “I cannot speak more on the issue,” he said. Sources, however, said the Raj Bhavan has put the Bill “in cold storage” at least for the time being. “It is unlikely that Governor would convey his opinion to the government on the matter till the elections are over,” they said. Pertinently, the government had proposed five percent reservation to Pahari-speaking people and two percent to Other Social Castes (OSC) by amending the reservation rules once the bill would be cleared by Raj Bhavan. At present, 43 percent quota is reserved for different categories in the State. Once the Bill gets a nod, the reservation quota would jump to maximum limit of 50 percent. The Supreme Court had fixed the reservation ceiling at 50 percent.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 05:39:31 +0000
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