The cancellation of MBBS admissions at Jammu’s Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence marks a critical moment in post-Article 370 Jammu and Kashmir. Beyond the immediate controversy, it reveals an evolving struggle between regional political actors and the Bharatiya Janata Party over reservation policy, regional polarisation, and the BJP’s efforts to retain political relevance in Jammu.

The authors are thankful to the anonymous reviewers for carefully reading the manuscript and providing valuable comments and suggestions. Their constructive feedback helped improve the quality, organisation, and argumentation in the article. 

In Indian political discourse, reservations have long occupied a central place, often being situated at the intersection of social justice, redistribution, merit, and electoral mobilisation. The genealogy of reservation policy in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) can be traced back to the constitution of the First Backward Classes Commission headed by Kaka Saheb Kalelkar in 1953. The commission, which submitted its report in 1956, laid down criteria for identifying backwardness, listed 2,399 backward castes and communities, and recommended affirmative action in education and public employment (Ananthakrishnan 2019).  

Drawing upon the Kalelkar Commission’s framework, the J&K government issued an order (Order No 826-C of 1956) consti­tuting a regional committee under Justice P B Gajendragadkar during the tenure of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, the then Prime Minister of J&K. The committee was tasked with identifying backward castes, communities, and geographically disadvantaged areas within the state. This was followed in 1969 by the formation of another Backward Classes Committee under Justice Janki Nath Wazir, whose recommen­dations prompted the issuance of statutory orders in 1970 granting reservation to Scheduled Castes (SCs) (Basotra 2008).

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, successive governments in J&K issued a series of statutory regulatory orders (SROs) identifying areas adjoining the actual Line of Control (LoC), backward areas, and weak and underprivileged classes, and extending reservation benefits to these categories. These incremental measures laid the foundation for a complex, region-specific reservation architecture distinct from the all-India Other Backward Class (OBC) framework.

A major turning point came in 1991 with the inclusion of several tribal communities—Gujjars, Bakerwals, Gaddis, Sippis, among others—into the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list, granting them reservation benefits in education and government employment (Indian Express 2023). Subsequently, the quota for residents of backward areas (RBA) expanded significantly, rising from 2% in the 1980s to 20% by the mid-1990s (Hussain 2022). 

These fragmented provisions were eventually consolidated into the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Rules, 2005, which came into effect on 21 October 2005. Under these rules, reservation in direct recruitment to government services stood at 8% for SCs, 10% for STs, and 25% for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC). The SEBC category included 20% for RBA, 3% for residents of areas adjoining the LoC, and 2% for weak and underprivileged classes. Horizontal reservations of 6% for ex-servicemen and 3% for persons with disabilities (PwD) were also provided (Government of Jammu and Kashmir 2005).

Notably, J&K did not adopt the Union government’s OBC framework, instead operating under the SEBC category. In professional education, the reservation for SCs and SEBCs remained at 8% and 25%, respectively, while ST reservation stood at 11%. Additional quotas were created for children of defence personnel (3%), children of paramilitary and state police personnel (1%), and sports quota (2%). Consequent­ly, total reservation in government employment reached 43%, leaving 57% for Open Merit (OM) candidates, while professional seats were split evenly between reserved and OM categories.

Expansion of Quotas under BJP Rule 

The reservation landscape underwent a profound transformation following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) consolidation of direct administrative control over J&K in 2019. After the enactment of the 103rd constitutional amendment, Governor Satya Pal Malik introduced a 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in government jobs and professional institutions in 2018. This immediately reduced the share of OM candidates to 47% in government employment and 40% in professional education.

The abrogation of Article 370 on 5 August 2019 marked a decisive shift, as Union reservation laws became fully applicable to the newly formed union territory. The most consequential change, however, occur­red in February 2024, just ahead of the general elections, when Parliament passed legislation granting ST status to four communities—the Gadda Brahmin, Koli, Paddari tribe, and the Pahari ethnic group. This legislative move doubled the ST quota in J&K from 10% to 20% (Bhat 2024).

The expansion of the ST quota was widely interpreted as a political strategy aimed at consolidating BJP support among Pahari-speaking populations in the restructured constituencies of the Pir Panjal region (Bhat 2024). At the same time, it created new fault lines between Pahari communities and Kashmir Valley........

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