BJP MLAs stage walkout on ST-II reservation certificates

Jammu, Feb 12: Two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators on Thursday staged a walkout to protest against the denial of Scheduled Tribe (ST)-II reservation certificates to the deserving beneficiaries.

Prior to their walkout, BJP MLAs Narinder Singh Raina and Arvind Gupta in the Legislative Assembly accused the government of resorting to deliberate ìselection implementation of ST-II reservation, restricted to selected districts or regions.î

The issue erupted during the Question Hour, when the BJP MLA Narinder Singh Raina, dissatisfied with the governmentís reply to his question about ST-II reservation, in his supplementary alleged that the ìPahari certificatesî to the deserving beneficiaries ñ Pahari ethnic groups living in Jammu districts, were not being issued by the concerned authorities.

He said that his party colleague ñ BJP MLA from Jammu West Arvind Gupta too had applied for ìPahari certificateî under ST-II reservation.

ìBut he did not get so far,î Raina said, while protesting against, what he alleged, ìselective implementation and thus injustice.î  Gupta too joined the cause.

Meanwhile, the National Conference (NC) MLA from Poonch Aijaz Jan threw a poser to them, ìAre you Paharis or Dogras?î  This ensued a brief duel between the two sides.

However, the Minister for Social Welfare Department Sakeena Itoo admitted delay in the issuance of these certificates, stating that the complaints had poured in, on that account.

ìThe reservation to ST-II category is not region based or area specific but is given on the basis of Pahari ethnicity to various groups as reflected in SO 176 of 2024,î she said and added that the deserving beneficiaries would be issued those (ST-II) certificates, following all norms as the reservation was on the basis of Pahari ethnicity.

Prior to it, she told the House that Scheduled Tribe (ST)-I reservation was implemented uniformly across Jammu and Kashmir. ìThe extension of ST-II reservation benefits to the Pahari ethnic group is based on their ethnic, cultural and linguistic identity and not region specific and is therefore consistent with the constitutional principles of equality, fairness and non-discrimination,î Itoo said.

She said that no separate (socio economic or anthropological) assessment was undertaken to support regional differentiation, as the inclusion was based on ethnic identity and not on regional differentiation.

Bani MLA Rameshwar Singh also raised his supplementary (question).

As Arvind Gupta joining Raina wanted to raise a certain issue on this account in the House, the Speaker did not allow it.  To register their protest, the duo (Raina and Gupta) staged a walkout.

Speaking to media-persons outside the J&K Legislature, the BJP MLAs alleged that an injustice was being meted to the ìPaharisî living in Jammu district.

Meanwhile, CPI-M MLA Muhammad Yusuf Tarigami and PDP MLA Waheed-ur-Rehman Para, while responding to queries of media-persons, reiterated the demand for rationalisation of reservation in J&K.