“…intentions not actions are under question,” PDP leader Waheed Parra prods government to release reservation report

Srinagar: Peoples’ Democratic Party leader and MLA Pulwama Waheed ur Rehman Parra has questioned the intentions of JKNC led Jammu and Kashmir Government for withholding a report on reservation matter.

Parra in an ‘X’ post (previously Twitter) wrote, “Students are demanding answers, not delays @sakinaitoo ji. Why hold back the cabinet committee report on merit? After your govt’s adverse stand on merit in court, intentions not actions are under question.”

“After 6 years of an unelected govt, the least people deserve from this govt is transparency. Make the report public,” Parra’s post reads.

The statement came hours after incumbent Minister of Health and Medical Education and School Education wrote in an ‘X’ post that the Cabinet Sub-committee’s has drafted its report on reservation, even saying that the report will be placed before the Cabinet ‘when it meets’.

Parra’s statement highlights growing frustration among students and the public over what he perceives as a lack of accountability from the “unelected government” in Jammu and Kashmir.

A prominent voice from the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Parra’s social media post referenced to a previous controversy where the J&K government filed an affidavit in the High Court defending its reservation policy.

Opposition parties, including the PDP, had previously termed the sub-committee a “facade” given the government’s stance in court.

The issue of reservation policy has been contentious in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly after the 2023 amendments to the Reservation Act, which granted Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to additional communities. This move, while lauded by the government as historic, sparked significant resentment from students and job aspirants who alleged a drastic reduction in the open merit quota, leading to concerns about meritocracy.