New chapter in history: 34 women to lead change in J&K Assembly from 2029

As per Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Second Amendment) Bill tabled in the Rajya Sabha for discussion, six seats will be reserved for SC and ST women candidates.

Srinagar: A new chapter in the history of Jammu and Kashmir would unfold in 2029 as 34 women from diverse backgrounds and communities would break barriers in gender politics and get elected as Assembly members.

Among 16 assembly seats reserved in J&K for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), one third will now be reserved for the same category of women. In the House of 90, seven seats are reserved for SCs (8 per cent) and nine for STs (10 per cent).

As per Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Second Amendment) Bill tabled in the Rajya Sabha for discussion, which couldn’t be taken up due to uproar but is expected to figure on Monday if everything goes well, six seats will be reserved for SC and ST women candidates.

Among 74 general category seats, 25 will be reserved for women of the same category, the bill stated. This reservation will be over and above two seats to be nominated from among the women in the Assembly. Also, out of two seats proposed to be filled from Kashmiri Pandit migrants, one will be compulsorily a woman.

This will take the strength of elected and nominated women in the Legislative Assembly to at least 34 in 2029 when provisions of the legislation will come into effect.

When the provisions of women reservation are made applicable to the Lok Sabha, one or two out of five Parliament seats in J&K will also be reserved for the women. The seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation exercise.

The bill was passed by Lok Sabha on December 12 and was listed in Rajya Sabha on December 14 but wasn’t taken up due to protests by the opposition members. Besides taking up the Women Reservation Bill, the Parliament had passed two bills pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir during the ongoing Winter Session.

One of the bills pertained to providing two nominated seats to Kashmiri Pandit migrants -- one of them a woman, and one to Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) refugees. Another bill providing reservation to other backward classes (OBCs) for the first time in J&K has also been cleared by the Parliament.