New Delhi, Dec. 12: In the current session of Parliament, a bill is likely to be introduced to give Kashmiri Pandits a nominated seat in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly and to give Scheduled Tribe status to Pahari, Padri, Koli, and Gada Brahmin communities in the Union Territory and Scheduled Caste status to Valmikis.
The ministries of law, home, tribal affairs, and social justice, as well as the J&K administration, are in the process of finalising the plan for piloting the bills this session. The Jammu Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, is likely to be changed to give the Pandits a political voice. The tribal affairs ministry will move the bill to give ST/SC status to communities, sources told.
Officials from the EC said that UT assembly elections would be held if the law and order situation stays the same after the winter elections. According to the report from the delimitation panel, the Election Commission has finished most of the steps needed to hold elections, such as updating the voter list and combining polling stations.
The delimitation panel said that there should be at least two Kashmiri Pandit members in the assembly, one of whom should be a woman. These members could be given voting rights like nominated members of the Puducherry assembly, which is another UT. The need to help Kashmiri Pandits keep their political rights and the fact that they have been persecuted for 30 years were given as reasons for the seats. The Centre chooses three MLAs for the Puducherry assembly, but the other 30 are chosen by the people. The Madras HC had endorsed the rights of MLAs who were chosen by the people of Puducherry.
The panel also said that the Centre should think about putting people in the assembly who had to leave Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. But the Centre hasn't decided what to do about the recommendation yet. The GD Sharma Commission's interim report, which was sent out in October, said that the Pahari and other groups should be given ST status. Gujjars and Bakerwals have been against the idea because they are afraid it will cut into their share. During his recent trip to the UT, however, home minister Amit Shah said that their quota would not be cut.
