Slams govt’s ‘calculated silence’ on reservation
SRINAGAR: Prominent social and student rights activist Er. Ehtisham Khan has expressed grave concern over the recently notified selection list for Medical Officers in Jammu and Kashmir, stating that only 151 out of 412 posts have gone to Open Merit candidates despite the General/Open Merit category constituting a substantial majority of the population, calling the figures “deeply disturbing and impossible to ignore.”
Khan said the latest recruitment is not merely about numbers but about the systematic shrinking of opportunities for thousands of deserving youth. “When nearly seventy percent of the population is left to compete for a fraction of available opportunities, the issue ceases to be administrative and becomes a question of justice, representation, and constitutional balance,” he said.
Khan alleged that before elections, reservation rationalisation was presented as a legitimate concern deserving urgent attention, but today the same voices have retreated into silence. “The promises remain; the political will has disappeared,” he said, claiming that for months the government has relied on delay, procedural ambiguity, and vague assurances.
“First there were promises. Then there were committees. Then came timelines. Now there is only silence. The pattern has become painfully predictable. Whenever public frustration reaches a boiling point, another assurance is offered. Once the pressure subsides, the issue is pushed back into cold storage,” he said.
Khan questioned the fate of the much-discussed file on reservation rationalisation, claiming that more than five months have passed since the government publicly maintained that the matter had been processed and forwarded. “The youth of Jammu and Kashmir deserve answers. Where is the file? What stage is it at? Who is accountable for the delay? Why has there been no transparent communication with the people? Governance cannot function through perpetual ambiguity,” he said.
Khan noted that several legislators raised concerns about reservation inside the Assembly, yet no visible progress has emerged. “The Assembly heard voices of concern. Legislators spoke. Students protested. Experts raised questions. Yet the government remains unmoved. Silence in the face of such widespread concern is not governance—it is evasion,” he said.
Reiterating that the demand for rationalisation is neither anti-reservation nor directed against any community, Khan said the movement seeks only a fair, balanced, and evidence-based framework that protects affirmative action while ensuring meaningful opportunities for merit. “No one is demanding privilege. No one is seeking exclusion. The demand is for constitutional balance,” he said, warning that every recruitment cycle conducted under the existing framework permanently alters lives and that lost opportunities are irreversible realities. “The youth of Jammu and Kashmir have waited long enough. They deserve answers, they deserve transparency, and above all, they deserve action.”