The Open Merit Students’ Association, Kammu & Kashmir (OMSA J&K), announced that they received an assurance from the office of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah that the government is “actively working” on revising the state's reservation policy and other student grievances.
The OMSA made this announcement on their X (formerly known as Twitter) account on the night of yesterday, March 24. They wrote, “OMSA J&K representatives held a detailed conversation with the Chief Minister's Office regarding the unjust reservation policy and the actionable relief measures that were promised. The CM Office has assured that they are actively working on the matter and positive developments are expected very soon (.sic).”
The association's issue centres around the state's reservation policy. The number of seats left for open merit has decreased significantly in recruitment and entrance exams in favour of increased reserved seats. Students argue that this move reduces the number of opportunities for general category students and have been demanding that the open merit seats be increased in proportion to the population.
Amidst a series of protests in December 2024, a Cabinet Sub-committee comprising Education Minister Sakina Itto, Javed Rana (Minister for Public Health Engineering) and Satish Sharma (Minister for Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs) was formed to look into the matter.
While students of the association also met Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at the same time, their meeting did not lead to immediate action, with Right to Information replies confirming that the government did not even have a written record of the minutes of their meeting.
Therefore, with the most recent meeting, the OMSA expressed optimism and urged the government to resolve the grievances due to the reservation policy within six months of the Cabinet Sub-committee’s formation.
“We strongly urge all students and aspirants to stay united in this movement. We are very close to achieving what we have fought for. Let us move forward with strength and solidarity,” the OMSA wrote.