LA passes ‘Jan Vishwas Amendment Bill’

Jammu, Apr 4: J&K Legislative Assembly, on the last day of the budget session, passed the ‘Jammu and Kashmir Jan Vishwas Second (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026’ and the “Jammu and Kashmir Private Universities Bill, 2026” with voice vote on Saturday.

“The Jammu and Kashmir Jan Vishwas Second (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026” (L A Bill No 07 of 2026) was moved for consideration and passage by Minister for Agriculture Javid Ahmed Dar, on behalf of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

The Bill to amend certain enactments, decriminalising and rationalising offences for ease of living and ease of doing business and also to repeal certain enactments, aims at aligning the legal framework of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir with the national initiative on decriminalization of minor offences viz., the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 enacted by the Parliament.

The Bill, which has already been published in an extraordinary issue of the Official Gazette, also aims at ensuring the compliance of BRAP (Business Reforms Action Plan) agenda to reduce the compliance burden on businesses, promote ease of doing business and case of living.

The Jammu and Kashmir Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Ordinance, 2025 (Ordinance No 1 of 2025) was promulgated on December 16, 2025 to decriminalize minor offences of 5 Acts to achieve the specified objectives.

“In continuation to it, further exercise has been carried out to decriminalise minor offences across various laws to reduce the compliance burden on businesses, promote ease of doing business and ease of living. Accordingly, the Jammu and Kashmir Jan Vishwas Second (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026 has been prepared inter alia amending 18 Acts of Jammu and Kashmir to substitute minor imprisonments by compounding of fine and also to increase fine, where meagre fine has been provided for violations, and no revision of same was effected till date,” Dar spelt out explaining the rationale of Bill, while addressing the concerns expressed by MLAs who had moved the amendments. He requested them to withdraw their amendments.

Members Nizam-ud-din Bhat, Balwant Singh Mankotia, Pirzada Farooq Ahmad Shah and Tanvir Sadiq withdrew their amendments following assurances from the Minister and the bill was passed with voice vote.

The second Bill passed by the House on the concluding day of the Budget session was “The Jammu and Kashmir Private Universities Bill, 2026” (L A Bill No 08 of 2026).

The Bill moved by Minister for Education, Sakina Itoo provided for the establishment and incorporation of Private Universities in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and to regulate their functioning, management and academic standards for ensuring quality education and protecting the interests of students.

Addressing the concerns of members, who had moved amendments, the Higher Education Minister said that the government had taken into consideration all the issues and concerns regarding the Higher Education sector in Jammu and Kashmir before formulation of this Bill.

She further said that this Bill would pave the way for establishing Private Universities and would boost the Higher Education sector here.

“Numerous students of Jammu and Kashmir will be benefited by this as they used to go outside J&K for achieving Higher education,” she said, while assuring to consider some of the amendments when the things would move forward.

“It is essential to put in place a robust regulatory framework to ensure that private universities maintain academic standards, protect the interests of students, and do not indulge in commercialisation of education. This Bill seeks to provide for the establishment of Private Universities by sponsoring bodies that meet the specified criteria, establish a Regulatory Authority to oversee the functioning of Private Universities,” the Minister specified.

The Bill, as per the Minister, also seeks to prescribe the governance structure of private universities to ensure accountability; mandate compliance with UGC regulations and academic standards; provide for reservation of seats for local students and scholarships for the needy; prohibit capitation fee and other malpractices; provide for inspection, monitoring and penalties for non-compliance and ensure protection of interests of students in case of dissolution of a private university.

“The Bill will create an enabling environment for the establishment of quality private universities in Jammu and Kashmir, while ensuring that the interests of students and the quality of higher education are safeguarded,” the Minister spelt out.

Legislators Mir Saifullah, Nizam-ud-din Bhat, Pirzada Farooq Ahmad Shah and Tanvir Sadiq had moved amendments on the Bill. These Legislators withdrew their amendments after assurances by the Education Minister.

However, the amendment of BJP legislator Balwant Singh Mankotia, who chose to press it, was rejected through voice vote.

Later, the Speaker put the Bill to voice vote and subsequently it was passed.