The Lower House of the Indian Parliament, known as the Lok Sabha, passed two bills on Wednesday aimed at introducing and implementing reservations for members of schedule castes, tribes, socially and educationally “backward” classes within the legislative assembly, employment sphere and professional institutions within the territories of Jammu and Kashmir. Reservations in India are a part of a system of affirmative action, which provides representation to historically disadvantaged groups. The Wednesday bills include the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Jammu and Kashmir Re-organisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which was originally introduced in July, seeks to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004, which has continued to govern reservations in the Union Territory for the last two decades. The bill proposes to amend section 2 of the 2004 act to change the wording from “weak and under-privileged classes (social castes)” to “other backward classes.” The bill also proposes to eliminate the definition of weak and underprivileged classes from the act altogether.
Speaking in Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the two bills will give justice to those deprived of their rights for the last 70 years. Shah also asserted that reservation to the displaced people will give them a voice in the legislature.
This story was originally published in jurist.org. Read the full story here .