MHA notifies to enforce provisions of J-K Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday notified to enforce the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023--significant legislation that aimed at providing "rights to those who faced injustice" and were deprived of their rights in the Union Territory.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla issued the notification that declared December 26, 2023 (Tuesday) as the date on which the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023, shall come into force. The move comes days after the Parliament passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, in the recently concluded Winter Session.

The MHA took the decision to exercise the powers conferred by subsection 2 of section 1 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Amendment Act.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Jammu and

Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023 (34 of 2023), the Central Government hereby appoints the 26th day of December, 2023, as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force," reads the notification.

On December 11, the Rajya Sabha passed unanimously the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, as well as Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, with a voice vote amending key laws in the Union Territory.

The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 aimed at providing "rights to those who faced injustice" and were deprived of their rights in the Union Territory. Both bills were earlier passed by the Lok Sabha in the Winter Session.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on the two Jammu and Kashmir Bills, Union Minister Amit Shah had said one of the Bills seeks to represent those who became refugees in their own country and also reserves one seat in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for people who have been displaced from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was passed to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004. The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 provided reservation in jobs and admission in professional institutions to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and other socially and educationally backward classes.

The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 Bill had sought amendment in the 2019 Act and provide representation in the Legislative Assembly to the Kashmiri Migrants and displaced persons from the PoK. It sought to nominate two members from the Kashmiri migrant community and one person representing the displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to the Legislative Assembly.

The amendment Bill proposed to increase the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly to 90 from 83.