Srinagar(Jammu and Kashmir): In the upcoming winter session of Parliament, which begins on December 4, the BJP led Central government is likely to introduce a draft law to extend 33 percent reservation to women in the Legislative Assemblies of Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry, sources said. The Women's Reservation Bill which was recently passed in the Parliament during the monsoon session was not applicable to the assemblies of J&K and Puducherry union territories as the bill had no mention of Articles 239A and 239 dealing with the administrative affairs of the two UTs.
In the upcoming winter session of the Parliament, the Centre is likely to pass the J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill 2023 and the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill 2023 to introduce provisions for providing women’s reservation in the twin UTs. With regard to Jammu and Kashmir, the draft law aims to extend allocation of thirty-three percent of the seats in the ninety-seat Jammu and Kashmir Assembly to women.
Both the draft laws will be introduced during the winter session of parliament, which is expected to conclude on December 22, 2023. "According to the draft, beginning in 2029, when the law's provisions take effect, 29 or 30 seats in the UT Assembly will be designated for women. The 33 percent threshold will include the reservation of women who are SC and ST. Significantly, the J&K Assembly now has seven seats set aside for SCs and nine for STs," an official said, adding that Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely going to introduce the bill in the Parliament.
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The official further said that when the provisions of women reservation are made applicable to the Lok Sabha, one or two out of five seats in Jammu and Kashmir will also be reserved for women. The official further said it is also expected that four bills pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir which were introduced in Lok Sabha during Monsoon session of the Parliament in July but were not taken up for pass motions, are likely to be taken up for the Parliament nod in the winter session.
He informed that one bill pertains to the Lieutenant Governor's nomination of two Kashmiri migrants, a woman and a refugee from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), to the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir. The other pertains to the Pahari Ethnic Tribe, Paddari Tribe, Gadda Brahmans, and Kolhis being granted Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, the official added.
According to the official, the third bill would add Valmikis to the list of Scheduled Castes, while the fourth bill would rename Other Social Castes (OSCs) to Other Backward Classes (OBCs). One interesting provision in the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 is that the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir may nominate up to two members, one of whom must be a woman, from the community of Kashmiri migrants and one member from the displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
In the meantime, as the Delimitation Commission worked to redraw boundaries for the Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir had received numerous requests for seats to be reserved in the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in order to protect the political rights and identity of both Kashmiri migrants and displaced people from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
