Fact Check: Has the Modi govt reserved Assembly seats for SCs, STs for J&K polls?
Reserving Assembly seats for SCs in Jammu and Kashmir has been in force earlier and the proposal to reserve seats for STs has not yet been approved by the government.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 26 Dec 2021 11:34 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A post claiming that for the first time in the history of Jammu & Kashmir, the Modi government is going to provide reservations for STs and SCs in the Assembly seats is going viral.
NewsMeter received the Telugu post on WhatsApp. When translated it reads, "For the first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, reservation for SCs and STs have been given in the Assembly seats."
A similar claim was also being shared on Facebook.
Fact Check:
NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading.
In March 2020, the Central government set up a Delimitation Commission for the delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir. The Commission submitted a report to the government and made several proposals.
Reserving nine Assembly seats for STs and seven for SCs was one of the proposals made by the Commission. However, these are only proposals and the government has not yet approved them. (Source: The Indian Express)
This is not the first time that Assembly seats have been reserved for SCs. They had been reserved for SCs in the past as well. According to the 2014 general election report in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, seven seats were reserved for SCs in that election. This means that even before the first Modi government was formed at the Centre, Assembly seats were reserved for SCs in Jammu and Kashmir. No seats have been reserved for STs before but SCs have contested and won elections in many constituencies. (Source: Election Commission of India)
Hence, the claim is misleading. Reserving Assembly seats for SCs in Jammu and Kashmir has been in force earlier and the proposal to reserve seats for STs has not yet been approved by the government.
