4% quota announced for Ladakh students in J&K institutes, residents say it’s not enough

In a tweet, Department of Information and Public Relations stated that the announcement was made in a meeting chaired by J&K chief secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam in Srinagar.

A view of Leh, Ladakh (representational image) | Photo: Sajid Ali | ThePrint

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration Tuesday announced that 4 per cent seats in professional institutes in J&K will be reserved for students of Ladakh for the academic year 2020-21.

This include 24 seats in engineering and 35 in medical colleges, said J&K administration’s Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) in a tweet.

The DIPR stated that the announcement was made in a meeting chaired by J&K Chief Secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam held in Srinagar.

4% seats in professional institutions of the UT of J&K will be reserved for students of Ladakh for the academic yr 2020-21; these include 24 seats in engineering, 35 in medical colleges; this was stated in a meeting chaired by CS BVR Subrahmanyam. pic.twitter.com/7EoaFWdVBi

— DIPR-J&K (@diprjk) August 4, 2020

Sources in the administration, however, said that an official order regarding the same is yet to be issued. 

“The government has not issued any order to this effect,” said a senior official, requesting anonymity. 

ThePrint on 20 July reported on the growing demand in Ladakh for reservations in educational institutes and government jobs in J&K.

Ladakhis were eligible to apply for government jobs in the erstwhile state, and were also eligible for reservation in both educational institutes and government jobs.

But with the Modi’s government decision to scrap Article 370 and the subsequent division of J&K into two union territories, the reservation for Ladakh residents is now gone.

Further, the new domicile law introduced by the Modi government in April barred Ladakhis from applying for government jobs in J&K, a move that caused much anxiety in the region.

The demand for reservation in J&K jobs by Ladakh residents was triggered by a job ad issued by J&K Bank in June.

‘It’s not enough’

Jimmy Ansari, president of the All Kargil Ladakh Students Association (Chandigarh unit), said that the announcement is certainly a “ray of hope”, but not enough.

“There is 7 per cent reservation for ST communities across the country. So 4 per cent reservations is less than what we expected. Further, we have to see if the reservations will be in government jobs too. I am taking the government announcement with a pinch of salt,” Ansari said.

Ladakh-based social activist Sajad Kargili said it’s not acceptable.

“This is not acceptable to us. We have been separated from Kashmir, a place with which we share cultural and geographical ties. We are dependent on Kashmir and many Ladakhi families have lived in the Valley. This 4 per cent reservation is nothing, but a lollipop,” he added.