J&K Reorganisation, Reservation Amendment Acts Come Into Force

New Delhi:

The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Act, 2023, which allows nomination of two members from Kashmiri migrants and one member from displaced persons from PoK, came into force on Tuesday.

Besides, the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023, which seeks to amend the term ‘weak and under-privileged classes’ to OBC, also came into force.

According to two separate official notifications, the Ministry of Home Affairs has fixed December 26 as the date from which the two laws have come into effect in Jammu and Kashmir.

“In exercise of the powers conferred sub section (2) of section 1 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (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,” one the notifications said.

The other notification said: “In exercise of the powers conferred sub section (2) of section 1 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Act 2023 (35 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.” The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Act, 2023 provides for nominating two members, including a woman, from the Kashmiri migrant community and one member from the displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to the legislative assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

The law provides for representation of Kashmiri migrants, displaced persons from PoK and Scheduled Tribes in the legislative assembly of Jammu and Kashmir so as to preserve their political rights as well as their overall social and economic development.

The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to amend the term ‘weak and under-privileged classes (social castes)’ in the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 to Other Backward Classes (OBC), expanding the reservation to many more communities. This was recommended by the J&K Socially Educationally Backward Classes Commission (SEBCC).

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