Cabinet clears amendment of Article 370 clause for SC, ST reservation in Jammu and Kashmir

Once the Ordinance is issued, it would pave the way for bringing persons residing in the areas adjoining International Border within the ambit of reservation at par with persons living in areas adjoining Actual Line of Control, Jaitley said

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said./ Image: ANI

New Delhi: Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a conference after the cabinet meeting. The government on Thursday gave its nod to the promulgation of an ordinance for giving reservation benefits to SCs and STs in Jammu and Kashmir by amending a clause of the contentious Article 370, which gives special status to the state. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. "It will serve the purpose of application of relevant provisions of the Constitution of India, as amended through the Constitution (Seventy Seventh Amendment) Act, 1995 and Constitution (One Hundred and third Amendment) Act, 2019 for Jammu and Kashmir, by issuing the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Amendment Order, 2019 by the President under clause (1) of Article 370," he said. The ordinance will have to be promulgated by the President. Once the Ordinance is issued, it would pave the way for bringing persons residing in the areas adjoining International Border within the ambit of reservation at par with persons living in areas adjoining Actual Line of Control, Jaitley said Union Cabinet has also approved development of New Greenfield Airport at Hirasar, Rajkot in Gujarat, the Finance Minister  said. The Union Cabinet also gave in-principle approval to a redevelopment plan of Delhi's AIIMS to convert it into a "world class" medical university. The master plan envisages freeing up adequate space through redevelopment, vertical expansion and reorganising the land usage, thus optimising the infrastructure of the institute for the next 20 years, an official statement said.