R K Kalsotra, State President of the All India Confederation of SC/ST/OBC Organisations (J&K), said the OBC quota must rise to at least 15%. He noted that the Mandal Commission recommended 27% reservation nationally for OBCs, reflecting 52% of India’s OBC population. In J&K, too, OBCs constitute a major chunk of the population and “we only get 8% reservation”.

Kalsotra urged that reservations be restricted to four categories—SC, ST, OBC and EWS—and proposed a revised structure of OBC 15%, ST 12%, SC 10% and EWS 10%, totalling 47%, leaving 53% for Open Merit. He called categories like RBA, ALC and ST-II “political creations for vote-bank purposes.”

However, Kashmiri leaders argue that removing RBA would severely disadvantage the Valley’s communities. People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Lone said, “I had expressed apprehension that changes, if any, will be at the cost of Kashmiri-speaking population,” adding that even during BJP rule, the RBA structure was left untouched “because this is the only form of reservation where Kashmiris get some relief.”

The PDP has also opposed any cut to the RBA share. “Any cut in RBA quota will dilute Kashmiri representation under the guise of administrative rationalisation,” PDP MLA Waheed Para said.

Major flashpoint

Reservations have emerged as a major flashpoint following the Centre’s expansion of reserved categories and the increase in quotas over the last five years.