Jammu, Dec 2: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will chair a cabinet meeting, the first after the biannual Darbar Move to the winter capital, resumed after a hiatus of over four years in the civil secretariat, Jammu, on Wednesday amid persisting suspense over its main agenda.
While media reports suggested that the cabinet’s main agenda would be deliberations on the reservation report prepared by the cabinet-sub-committee, authorities privy to the meeting said till late Tuesday evening, reservation did not figure in the agenda circulated.
“As of now, there is nothing related to the reservation on the agenda. It is the normal agenda related to proposals related to different departments, including reforms. There are issues related to the Cooperative Department, Housing and Urban Development Department (HUDD), and also some matters related to KAS officers pertaining to the General Administration Department (GAD),” he said.
On whether there is any possibility of a reservation issue to be included in the agenda as an additional item at the last moment, the authorities said, “I don’t think tomorrow it will be there, as so far it is not part of the agenda circulated. But yes, one cannot rule out the possibility of the issuance of a separate order in this regard tomorrow.”
The issue related to the recent JDA demolition drive, which has stirred a hornet’s nest, may prominently figure in the cabinet meeting.
Meanwhile, talking to media persons in Rajouri, Minister for Tribal Affairs Javed Rana on Tuesday also gave mixed signals vis-à-vis the reservation issue in the agenda of Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.
“I am expecting that the CSC report on reservation will be made public in tomorrow’s meeting – if it figures in the agenda (of the cabinet meeting). So far, I’ve not received the final agenda,” he said.
However, he said that the proposal to make the Tribal Affairs Department as nodal authority for FRA implementation would be there in the cabinet meeting.
Notably, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, following the two-day NC Working Committee meeting in Srinagar on November 29, 2025, had said that the concerned (Social Welfare Department) minister would present a memo (related to CSC report on reservation) in the next cabinet meeting, and it would deliberate on it.
On October 16, CM Omar, in a news conference that marked the completion of one year of his government in office, said that the Cabinet-Sub-Committee on reservation submitted its final report to the cabinet on October 15, 2025, and it would be sent to the Lieutenant Governor for approval. Media reports have suggested that the government may affect a cut in Residents of Backward Areas (RBA) and Economically Weaker sections (EWS) quotas to rationalise the percentage for Open Merit candidates in government jobs and educational institutions.
