Sakina Itoo, Minister of Education, Jammu & Kashmir has announced today, June 10 that the Cabinet Sub-committee has prepared its report on the current reservation policy of the Union Territory and will submit it to the Union Territory’s Cabinet when it meets.

This announcement, which offers a much-needed update for thousands of waiting students, has been made on her X (formerly known as Twitter) account. The minister further stated that the report has been finished within the “stipulated timeframe of six months.”

To recall, this committee was formed on November 22, 2024, amid concerns and widespread protests by general category students of Jammu & Kashmir, who argue that the current reservation policy did not leave enough opportunities for them.

They stated that despite making up about 30 per cent of the population, communities in the reserved category have up to 70 per cent quota in entrance exams and posts. General category students, who comprised more than 60 per cent of the population, had to compete for just over 30 per cent of the remainder of the seats left for open merit.

These quotas were introduced in March 2024, through an amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004, under the previous administration of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

Thus, the committee, which was notified on December 10, two weeks after its formation, was given a timeframe of six months to look into the reservation issue and students’ grievances on it, and submit a report based on its findings.

The committee consists of Education Minister Sakina Itoo, Jal Shakti & Environment Minister Javed Rana and Transport Minister Satish Sharma.