Reassess reservation policies in J&K to ensure fair opportunities
Honourable Chief Minister
Civil Secretariat, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir
Subject: Reassessment of reservation policy
Through this open letter, I wish to draw your kind attention to the growing menace of illogical and irrational reservations prevalent in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. In the name of reservation, unreserved students are being punished for crimes they didn’t commit. At the altar of reservation, open-merit students are dragged like cattle and mercilessly sacrificed to quench the hunger of the giant reservation statue. How long shall we be fleeced by skeletons?
Dear Sir, on the ground, the situation is getting worse by the day. Innumerable dreams are shattered due to the ambiguous nature of the reservation. You had promised to tame the monster of reservation and restrict it to its original purpose. However, in my opinion, it has gone mad and is trampling on the green grass of unreserved students. A visible example is the recent advertisement for 75 posts of Naib Tehsildar by the Revenue Department. In this advertisement, 45 posts are reserved while only 30 are for the unreserved community. In such a situation, how can a candidate from an unreserved category feel secure and dream of a promising future?
I am not opposing the reservation itself. However, it has spread its vicious tentacles in every direction and caught unreserved students by the throat. In this age of cut-throat competition, access to reservation is a cakewalk for some but a nightmare for the majority.
So, I request your goodness to look into this matter immediately so that the dream of a sustainable Jammu and Kashmir may be fulfilled. Moreover, the committee you set up to review the nuances of reservation policy and balance the needs of open and reserved categories is a welcome step and is hoped to placate the majority community. Let us keep our fingers crossed and await the committee’s report. However, we need changes on the ground. We need the swift implementation of equitable vacancy distribution. The illogical and unfair tilt toward the reserved category adds salt to wounds that are deep and slow to heal. We have been crushed under the weight of political and other manipulations. We cannot continue to carry the burden of unequal vacancy distribution, which has left us numb. A 70 per cent reservation is no joke—it is unimaginable in a democratic setup. It is detrimental in the long run. It will sow the seeds of discord and prepare the ground for social problems.
I hope your goodness will take this matter seriously. Last but not least, the eight years of political vacuum from 2018 to 2025 have shattered many dreams, and the aspiring students now curse themselves for falling prey to futile education. I urge you to fill this vacuum, to some extent, by listening to the grievances of the grieving students and prioritising equitable and rational vacancy distribution. That would be your greatest kindness, and I shall feel obliged.
Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
The writer is a student
Syed Mustafa Ahmad
sy************@***il.com