Minister for Education Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari today congratulated Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Minister for Social Welfare Sajjad Gani Lone for providing 6% reservation for the poorest of the poor and underprivileged sections of the society.He said the landmark move will immensely benefit such disadvantageous classes of people not only in rural, but urban areas of Srinagar and Jammu as well who were till now denied of reservation benefits in jobs.Terming the move as historic, Bukhari observed that a long pending demand of economically poorer sections of the society living in Srinagar has been met by the present dispensation by way of extending the reservation benefits to them. “This reservation will ensure greater opportunity for the inhabitants of Srinagar who seek jobs and other benefits in government sector which were so far not available to them,” he asserted.
He said the Srinagar city is inhabited by thousands of families having annual income of Rs 1 lakh or less and by this reservation they will get immensely benefitted under the category of ‘weak and underprivileged sections.’Bukhari observed that the decades old turmoil in Kashmir badly impacted the economy of Srinagar city turning it into an abode of poorest of poor and underprivileged category. “Granting reservation to this weaker section is a major initiative towards social integration and saving the future of economically downtrodden sections of our City,” he added.The Minister said that a vast chunk of population in Srinagar associated with different traditional trades and crafts were hit by the vagaries of conflict and are not in a position to earn their livelihood in a dignified manner. “The reservation has come as a sigh of relief for such economically downtrodden sections and this initiative would go down as one of the biggest welfare initiatives by any government in recent times,” he added.
The Minister also hailed Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Minister for Social Welfare Sajjad Lone for approving three percent reservation in jobs to Pahari speaking people in the State. Bukhari remarked that by granting three per cent reservation, the PDP led coalition government has fulfilled its commitment towards Pahari speaking Community of Jammu and Kashmir.He said the revolutionary and bold initiatives taken by the Chief Minister will yield long-term results and will take Jammu and Kashmir on the path of peace, progress and economic growth.“The Chief Minister Ms Mehbooba Mufti under whose vision the social welfare department led by Sajjad Gani Lone works deserve accolades and appreciations for conducting an extensive exercise that has resulted into approval for this bold public welfare initiative,” Bukhari remarked.
He said that earlier in the past the successive governments only discussed and debated these significant issues but never came out with a definitive solution to these unrelieved economic imbalances in the society.“Extending reservation to economically weaker sections and Pahari speaking people was only being debated and left without any concrete solution on different ruses, but PDP led coalition government has shown the will and determination to be the first State in extending these reservations in the entire country,” Bukhari said.