Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday chaired a meeting of the Council of Ministers at the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar, where key governance and development-related proposals were discussed, along with a separate decision on reservation policy matters.
According to the Chief Minister’s Office, the meeting focused on strengthening governance mechanisms, improving public service delivery, and accelerating ongoing development initiatives across the Union Territory.
The CMO said in a post on X that the discussions covered a range of proposals and policy issues aimed at enhancing administrative efficiency and ensuring better delivery of welfare services to the public.
In a parallel development, the Cabinet also approved its formal response to queries raised by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) regarding the Union Territory’s reservation proposal, official sources said.
As per reports the Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, examined a draft reply prepared by the Social Welfare Department in consultation with the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
The response was framed in answer to MHA’s queries on the proposed restructuring of reservation categories, particularly the suggested reduction in the Reserved Backward Area (RBA) quota by three percent and the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) quota by seven percent.
Officials said the government justified the proposed reduction in RBA quota on the grounds that Ladakh is no longer part of Jammu and Kashmir and that several areas earlier covered under the category are now classified under other reservation categories.
Similarly, the reduction in the EWS quota was justified on the basis that the population of the EWS category in Jammu and Kashmir is comparatively smaller than in other states and Union Territories, according to sources.
The Cabinet, they added, gave its go-ahead to the final response, which will now be submitted in reply to the Centre’s queries.
On December 4, 2025, the then UT Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had approved a detailed reservation report prepared by a three-member Cabinet sub-committee led by Minister Sakina Itoo. The proposal was later forwarded to the Lieutenant Governor for approval and subsequently sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs, which had returned it seeking clarifications.
