“Reservation will benefit one Sect but expanded Scholarship will benefit a Society.”
SHABIR AHMAD SHAH
Reservation is a policy that provides preferential access to education & jobs for specific group/s based on caste, tribe, gender, and disability etc while as Scholarship is a financial aid Program that helps students based on merit, financial need, talent or social category etc, sometimes overlapping with reservation category, in order to support their education. In recent JK legislative assembly session debates on reservation has been witnessed and it has been surfaced that a substantial increase in reservation quotas escalated to 70% by the amendments over past five years is a major concern for all of us. Peoples Conference Chief & MLA Handawara has been vocal with regard to current reservation framework. “He pointed out that the Kashmir valley lacks a Schedule Caste population yet the reservation policies do not reflect this demographic nuance.” The students & job aspirants having general category staged protest against the reservation policy by reducing the open merit quota from 57% to 33% and increase in other social groups. The protestors gained support from political, social & civil society groups including NC-MP, AIP & others led a peaceful protest outside Chief Minister’s residence. Taking into consideration the concerns the Government of J&K in December 2024 established a Cabinet Sub-Committee (CSC) to review the existing reservation rules with no specific timeline. Chief Minister clarified that the CSC formed to examine J&K’s Reservation Policy has been assigned a six-month timeline to complete its report. The reservation policy in J&K has undergone significant changes in the recent past by legal amendments & administrative decisions. Historically, the reservations in J&K were governed by the Jammu & Kashmir Reservation Act 2004 and the subsequent Reservation Rules 2005. These provisions ensured that reservations in professional institutions did not exceed 50%. These adjustments have met with legal challenges, petitions that increasing the reservation quota beyong 50% cap established by the Supreme Court violates constitutional provisions that deceases the opportunities for general category. In responses to above the J&K High court issues notices to the administration seeking clarification & justifications for revised reservation policy. As already mentioned above that Reservation policy or quota system are designed to provide disadvantaged communities’ access to education, jobs and others facilities. With positive intention it has been several negative impacts as well. Firstly compromising in merit i.e. it leads to the selection of less qualified & potential candidates over more deserving ones, hence lower the overall quality of workforce and education standard. Besides political exploitation & instead of eliminating caste based discrimination reservations often reinforce case identities, leading to further expected division in society. It is also a fact that reservations are often enjoyed by the already well off members of reserved categories while as the truly needy & deserved remain deprived. Many talented individuals from unreserved categories means general categories migrated abroad due to limited opportunities leading a big loss of skilled human resource. The US Supreme Court has ruled against race based affirmative action, arguing it can be unconstitutional. Some companies in South Africa prefer hiring based on race based quotas rather than merit hence reducing productivity. In Brazil, some argues that racial quotas reduce the overall quality of graduates who entering the job market. When the Reservation policy aim to bring social justice, it create inequalities & inefficiencies in the society. The key challenge is balancing affirmative action with merit based opportunities, ensuring benefit (here I repeat benefits) reach the truly disadvantaged without compromising overall national progress. “Many experts suggest economic and educational upliftment programs over right quota systems as a better alternative here I also agree with it.
Increase in Scholarship Programs & Jobs
The relationship between an increase in scholarship programs and a decrease in the reservation system is a complex and depend on various factors including government policy, societal structure and economic conditions. If scholarship programs expand and become more inclusive it can provide financial support based on merit & needy hence reducing the reliance on reservation quatas for economically weaker sections. Scholarships can help talented individuals from all backgrounds access to education without relying on reservations. If scholarshops effectively support underprivileged students few of them may voluntarily opt for financial aid over reservation. One more thing is to increase in job opportunities could reduce the need for a reservation system. If job availability expands significantly, competition may lessen and met based selection might become more feasible for everyone. The UK has strong job markets in finance, healthcare, education, and IT but no reservation policy but anti-discrimination laws ensure equal opportunities for underprivileged groups. Meanwhile, in JK Budget 2025 the Social / Tribal Welfare program has earmarked Rs.1400 croers for enabling enhanced pensions under Integrated Social Security Schemes to expand social security for all old aged, specially Abled & widows persons. Similarly, OBC, Economically backward classes (EBC) & others shall be encompassed under pre-matric scholarship scheme and this initiative will cover 44000 (fourty four thousand) students. Similarly, Scholarship programs for ST students of Rs.40 crores allocated Post Matric covering 17000 ST students & Rs.9.46 crores for Pre-matric scholarship will benefit 1,80,000 ST students is a well come step. It clearly indicates that the policy makers easily resolve the Reservation issue by providing adequate scholarship & jobs to the youth across the population so that each and every section of society grows “Sab Ka Saath, Sab Vishwas, Sab Ka Priyas”.
Shabir Ahmad Shah is a Economic Expert, Author and Promoter of Culture & Sports and can be reached at shabir_anas@yahoo.com
