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Student safety, jobs, quota: JKSA raises key issues with Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs
The delegation raised concern over the continued incidents of profiling, harassment, intimidation, and discrimination faced by Kashmiri students studying across various parts of the country.
A delegation of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) on Wednesday met the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs and submitted a detailed representation highlighting the concerns of students, youth, aspirants, tribal communities, and marginalised sections of Jammu & Kashmir.
The delegation was headed by the advisor of the association, Peerzada Mehboob-Ul-Haq.
It briefed the members of the committee on the growing socio-economic challenges confronting the youth of Jammu & Kashmir. The delegation urged urgent institutional intervention to address critical issues relating to unemployment, discrimination, educational distress, mental health concerns, tribal rights, and constitutional safeguards affecting students, aspirants, and marginalised communities in the region.
During the interaction, the delegation raised concern over the continued incidents of profiling, harassment, intimidation, and discrimination faced by Kashmiri students studying across various parts of the country. The delegation informed the committee that such incidents create fear, insecurity, and psychological distress among students pursuing education outside Jammu & Kashmir and adversely affect social integration. It urged the committee to recommend robust grievance redressal mechanisms, sensitisation initiatives, and institutional safeguards to ensure dignity, protection, and equal treatment for Kashmiri students across India.
The delegation also highlighted widespread concerns regarding the present reservation policy and rationalisation framework in Jammu & Kashmir.
The issue of rising unemployment in Jammu & Kashmir was also raised before the committee.
The delegation also raised the issue of inadequate implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in Jammu & Kashmir.
It demanded special age relaxation for aspirants from Jammu & Kashmir appearing in national-level competitive examinations including UPSC, SSC, banking, railways, and other central recruitment examinations. The JKSA requested the committee to recommend a special relaxation package to provide substantive equality and fair opportunity to deserving youth from the region.
The delegation also urged the committee to strengthen educational infrastructure, expand scholarship opportunities for economically weaker students, establish dedicated student facilitation and counselling centres, and ensure greater institutional outreach to address the concerns of students from Jammu & Kashmir studying across the country.
The association expressed hope that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs would take serious cognisance of the issues raised and recommend necessary policy interventions to uphold justice, constitutional rights, dignity, inclusion, and equal opportunities for the students, youth, and marginalised communities of Jammu & Kashmir
