The Lok Sabha has passed two bills, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
The Reorganisation bill seeks to reserve seats in the upcoming 114-seat Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for “Kashmiri migrants, people displaced from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), and Scheduled Tribes.”
The legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir initially had 100 members, including 24 for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
In 1988, the seats were increased to 111.
The 24 PoK seats were not considered in quorum calculation.
It makes the total contestable seats 87, including four for Ladakh.
After delimitation in 2020, the total seats rose to 114, including those for PoK.
The state governor has the power to nominate 5 members to assembly.
Out of these, two will be women, one a Kashmiri migrant and one from PoK.
The J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 provides for the reorganization of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir (with legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature).
It seeks to provide reservation of 9 seats for Scheduled Tribes for the first time.
The Reservation bill replaces the term “weak and underprivileged classes” in the J&K Reservation Act, 2004, with “other backward classes.”