Amidst the hesitation over whether or not an income certificate is required to get a pahadi reservation certificate, the Social Welfare Department has set an income limit, according to which the benefit of this reservation will be reaped by those with income less than Rs 800,000 per annum. There is no such condition of income for the Scheduled Caste. The Department of Social Welfare has clarified that the Reservation Act 2004 will also apply to the pahari-speaking people and the income for reservation under section (o) of section 2 of the Act. The reservation will remain and those earning more than Rs 800,000 will not get this reservation. According to the department, Section 2 of the Reservation Act provides for reservation to the socially and educationally backward classes while its sub-section (o) provides for this reservation. It is stated that the benefit of reservation should be given only to those persons belonging to backward classes whose income from all sources should not exceed Rs. 800,000. Therefore, the same act of reservation applies to the rest of the backward classes as well as the pahadi speaking people Will be enforced.It is pertinent to mention here that a formal notification has been issued for providing 4% reservation to the hill tribes. On April 20, 2020, SRO 127 was issued in which the amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Rules 2005 was approved and the complete procedure and details of the reservation received by various sections under this SRO have been clarified. The class can also benefit from it and certificates can also be issued to it but nowhere was it made clear that it also requires an income certificate.Pahari-speaking people complain that they are now being asked for income certificates. The entire hill tribe was already angry over the demand for income certificate and now with the issuance of a formal order by the social welfare department, this anger will be further aggravated. They are saying that they do not understand whether the reservation has been given to them on the basis of language and tribe or on the basis of economic and social development. It has been linked to the income condition while no other condition has been imposed on the other categories having reservations.
It may be recalled that the order issued by the government on April 20, 2020 clarified the eligibility for issuance of PSP certificate, according to which the said person should belong to the hill class in order to avail 4% reservation benefits under the category of pahadi speaking class. His mother tongue should be pahadi. He should have an acceptable Aadhaar card or residency certificate. In this regard the authority to accept the application of the applicant will be with the concerned Tehsildar. It does not mention the income certificate anywhere.The hill tribes have been demanding for the status of Scheduled Tribes for years. It is worth mentioning that the said language was included in the sixth schedule of the previous state constitution but from time to time the ruling Center and the governments of Jammu and Kashmir Ignored and no attention was paid to this important demand. A number of delegations also went to Delhi to seek ST status, for which a ‘pahadi Culture and Welfare Forum’ was set up in 1970. A formal constitution was made for this forum and thus the struggle began. In addition, a number of organizations were formed which fought for the dignity of the nation. In every election, the only demand of the people of the valley was that they should also be scheduled. Tribe status should be given because the people of this class are also very backward. On October 14, 1991, former Chief Minister and current Member of Parliament Dr. Farooq Abdullah recommended to the Central Government to give Scheduled Tribes to the pahadi people. However, some other sections got this status but the hill tribes were ignored. What happened was that they would support the same party in the coming elections which would fulfill their demand and that is what happened. The hill tribes from every area supported the candidates with the same demand and made them successful. On December 26, 1993, the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, KV Krishna Rao, officially wrote a letter to the Union Minister for Social Welfare, Sitaram Kesari, strongly recommending the inclusion of the hill tribes in the ST category. After the catastrophic earthquake in 2005, when former President of the Republic of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and then Chairperson of the Congress-led UPA Government Sonia Gandhi visited Uri and Karnah, people demanded that they should be accorded the Scheduled Tribe status because they have been struggling for it for years. Even then, the people were promised that their demands would be met. In the border area of Karnah, former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee had also assured the demand of the people and he had also written a letter to the Union Ministry of Social Welfare in this regard in which he was asked to pay attention to this. Dr Farooq Abdullah When he was the Chief Minister in 2001, he too had to face the wrath of the pahadis. Seeing the resentment of the locals, he again recommended to the Central Government to pay special attention to the demands made. Later, the government led by Mufti Muhammad Saeed passed the resolution from the Assembly and left for Delhi in 2005. However, it was also thrown in the trash.Not only this, but in the report of Justice Saghir Committee also it was recommended to give ST status. Three negotiators appointed by the central government also recommended in support of this demand.
In 2002, the Labor and Welfare Standing Committee headed by Dr. Sushil Kumar Andora also recommended this to the government and said that the lifestyle of the hill tribes living near Hadmatarka in Jammu and Kashmir is similar to that of Gujjar Bakrwals and they too should be given ST status. In 2007, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court also asked the government to meet this long-standing demand of the class, but this demand was never met. After failing to get Scheduled Tribe status, Omar Abdullah, son of Dr. Farooq Abdullah, was appointed as the Chief Minister. Decided to give 5% reservation for jobs and admission in government educational institutions and meanwhile the bill was approved by overwhelming votes in both the houses of the Legislative Assembly in Srinagar, but unfortunately the then Governor NN Vohra Instead of signing it found some errors, thus rejected it. Then in 2018, the PDP and BJP government amended the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 with reference to the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Amendment Bill, 2014. Presented in the Houses which was passed by both the Houses. Then the leaders of the karnah, keeping in view their political affiliation, started politics on it and from Karnah to Poonch, the pahadi speaking leaders lined up outside the Chief Minister’s office in Jammu. Meanwhile, it was being said with great fanfare that the pahadi Language speakers have succeeded in the first phase and the decision to reserve will be a milestone and will pave the way for obtaining ST status as the Center now has no excuse not to grant this status. In a matter of days, this decision also came to an end and the governor again objected to the file, found some flaws in it and refused to sign it. However, the time came for Governor Satyapal Malik The bill was passed and approved. However, the remaining issues were dealt with by the present Lieutenant Governor Grish Chandra Murmu and a reservation certification was issued. That is why the people are calling it a case of “Khodapahar-Niklachuha”.