Srinagar, July 23: The central government is likely to introduce a bill in the ongoing Parliament session for reserving five seats in J&K’s assembly.
According to a front page report in the Indian Express on 23 July, the amendment bill, which is expected to be called Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Amendment) Bill, 2023, seeks to reserve two seats for Kashmiri Pandit migrants living in Jammu, one seat for refugee community of Pakistan-administered Kashmir (POJK) and two seats for women.
Members to all these five seats shall be based on nomination by the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir union territory, and not by the Chief Minister.
The likely amendments would be made to the Section 14 and Section 15 of the J&K Reorganization Act, 2019, with the introduction of Sections 15 A and 15 B, which, among other things, would officially enhance the total number of J&K Assembly seats from 107 to 114, as recommended by the Delimitation Commission, Ziraat Times has learnt.
Reports also suggest that the proposed amendment in the Act might also institutionalise the reservation for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities in J&K.
The total number of seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly will now be 114, up from 83 in the previous assembly. Out of these, Jammu and Kashmir will have 90 seats, and 24 seats shall remain reserved for the Pakistan Administered Kashmir.
As per the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission, out of the 90 Assembly seats of J&K, 47 seats will be in Kashmir while 43 seats will be in Jammu region.
Pertinently, the Delimitation Commission had recommended increasing the electoral constituencies from 46 to 47 in the Kashmir region, while in the Jammu region seats were recommended to be increased from 37 to 43.
It is unclear as of now if the three reserved seats for Kashmiri Pandit migrants and POJK refugees shall come from the overall Jammu regional quota or the total number of seats for J&K Assembly will be enhanced.
Observers believe that the amendments to the J&K Reorganization Bill, 2019, are likely to have a significant impact on the future of the assembly.
