J&K Cabinet clears SWD draft reply to MHA queries

Jammu, Jun 23: The J&K cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday approved the draft reply of the Social Welfare Department (SWD), to the clarifications sought by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to the CSC reservation report. Following the cabinet’s clearance, the SWD reply, prepared in consultation with the Law Department, will be sent back to the MHA, routed through Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. “The cabinet has approved the reply for submission to the Lieutenant Governor. He will scrutinise and then will forward it to the MHA for final clearance,” sources added. Earlier, the MHA had raised certain queries about the Cabinet Sub Committee (CSC) report cleared by the J&K cabinet, reportedly proposing cuts in reservation for RBA and EWS categories. The MHA had queried about the basis of proposed cuts i.e., from 10 percent to 7 percent in the category of Residents of Backward Areas (RBA) and from 10 percent to 3 percent in Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category. The sources pointed out that the SWD reply defended the proposed cut in CSC report vis-à-vis RBA category on the ground that the areas of Ladakh, separated from J&K, have been excluded from RBA category, thus slashing the reservation percentage under it. The government justified the RBA cut by noting that several areas entitled under it were already covered under other categories of reservation. “The government defended slashing of EWS reservation on the pretext that their population in Jammu and Kashmir is smaller compared to other states,” sources stated. On December 4, 2025, the UT Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had approved the reservation report prepared by a three-member Cabinet sub-committee led by Minister Sakina Itoo. Earlier an official spokesperson said that the Chief Minister chaired a meeting of the Council of Ministers at the Civil Secretariat, Srinagar on Tuesday. The meeting deliberated on a range of proposals and policy matters aimed at strengthening governance, accelerating development and improving public service delivery across Jammu Kashmir