BJP leaders seek quota for Paharis

Our Correspondent

Jammu, August 1

Senior leader of the BJP from Rajouri district and former vice-chairman of the advisory Board for the Development of Pahari-speaking people Kuldeep Raj Gupta today said the government must roll out political reservation for the Paharis.

Gupta, who was addressing a press conference at the BJP office here, said there were six lakh Pahari-speaking people in Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu division and 4.5 lakh in three districts of Kashmir– Kupwara, Anantnag and Baramulla.

“Previous governments did not do anything for the Pahari people but the BJP government provided four per cent reservation in direct recruitment to the members of the community in J&K,” said Gupta. The UT administration had provided four per cent reservation in direct recruitment to Paharis in 2020.

He, however, said Paharis should also be provided political reservation and granted Scheduled Tribe (ST) status as “they are even more backward than the Gujjar community, which already has the ST status”. “We do not want to take the share of the Gujjars but this is the right of the Pahari-speaking people,” added Gupta.

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