Srinagar, Oct 17 : People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader, Waheed Para on Thursday hit out at the Jammu and Kashmir Government for reducing the Residents of Backward Area (RBA) quota, saying the move was politically motivated and aimed at weakening Kashmiri participation in governance and education.
Reacting to the decision on X, Para said the government’s claim of “rationalising” the quota was only a cover for a deeper attempt to strip people from backward and remote regions of their fair share. “This decision is not about rationalisation — it’s about disempowering Kashmiris and weakening a system that protected the underprivileged,” he wrote.
He also criticised Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for supporting the decision, saying the CM’s endorsement served the interests of disempowerment rather than justice or equity.
The RBA quota has for years provided a level playing field to people living in geographically disadvantaged areas. Para warned that tampering with it would further marginalise these communities and push them to the edge of the state’s social and administrative structure.
.(KNS).
