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Srinagar : Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference president and Handwara MLA Sajad Lone on Wednesday raised concerns in the Legislative Assembly over what he termed a stark regional imbalance in the issuance of Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) certificates across Jammu and Kashmir, demanding a uniform definition of poverty throughout the union Territory.
Lone countered with the government’s own data.
He said the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department records over 37 lakh AAY and BPL priority household ration cards in Kashmir against about 29 lakh in Jammu.
“The per capita is the same and the social conditions are the same,” Lone told the House, noting the two regions have shared a common history for centuries.
He identified the asset criteria as the core problem. Someone earning under Rs 8 lakh a year may be deemed poor, yet owning a house on three and a half marlas can make them “rich.” A person who qualifies as poor for a ration card, he said, is treated as well-off when applying for a job.
With around 40,000 recruitments pending, about 4,000 would fall under EWS.
By his calculation, the current asset-based criteria would send about 320 of those posts to Kashmir and 3,680 to Jammu, while an AAY/BPL-based criterion would send about 2,200 to Kashmir and 1,800 to Jammu.
Lone argued that existing reservations already crowd Kashmiri youth out of the job market, and that the EWS imbalance compounds this.
“There is no rocket science in this,” he said, challenging any economist or statistician to explain the disparity.
Lone pointed to Kerala, which uses AAY and BPL ration card status as its EWS yardstick, and offered to hand the Kerala form to the Speaker and the Minister.
He also argued the matter is not constitutionally binding on the UT. Article 16 lets states notify economically weaker sections by family income and other indicators, and the Centre’s 2019 DoPT definition, he said, can continue for central jobs while J&K adopts its own for UT posts.
“A poor person holds a priority household ration card or an AAY card,” Lone said, urging the government to adopt one definition for both employment and food and supplies. “You cannot have two definitions.” (Agencies)
