On June 2, Indian President Droupadi Murmu issued an edict amending the Jammu & Kashmir Reservation Act 2004 to establish 85% reservation in the Union Territory of Ladakh, with the exception of the 10% EWS quota. The Union Territory of Ladakh is explicitly covered by the Ordinance, which is the Union Territory of Ladakh Reservation (Amendment) Regulation 2025.
The amendment substitutes section 3 (1) of the Reservation Act 2004 with the following: “Provided that the total percentage of reservation shall in no case exceed 85%, excluding reservation for Economically Weaker Sections”.
Notably, the list of individuals and groups eligible for reservations in appointments and admissions under the Act is established in section 3 of the Act.
The original section 3 (1) before the amendment stated: Except as otherwise provided hereinafter, available vacancies to the extent as may be notified by the Government from time to time shall be reserved for appointment by direct recruitment from amongst the person belonging to-
(a) Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes which shall not exceed the ratio and proportion as the population of each such category bears to the total population of the State as per the latest available census ;
(b) socially and educationally 3[backward classes ; and]
[(c) economically weaker sections :]
Provided that [the total percentage of reservation provided in clauses (a) and (b) shall in no case exceed 50%
Other Act provisions, such as section 5(4) (on vacancies to be carried forward), S.6 (reservation in promotions), and Section 9(1) (reservation in professional institutions), are also amended by the ordinance.
The Ordinance stipulates that reservations, with the exception of the EWS reservation, cannot exceed 85% under the aforementioned section 6 and section 9 provisions. Section 5(4) states that the EWS would not be affected by the clause and that any vacancies would be filled in accordance with any guidelines that may be established.
