President Ram Nath Kovind Gives Assent to The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019

President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 on Friday.

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday, i.e., August 9 gave his assent to The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. The bill was passed by the Parliament in the recently concluded first session of the 17th Lok Sabha in order to bifurcate the state into two Union Territories namely Jammu and Kashmir with an Assembly and Ladakh without one.

Notwithstanding the controversy, the Bill was passed in the Parliament on Tuesday. While the Lok Sabha gave its nod on Tuesday after a little over seven hours discussion, the Rajya Sabha approved the bill a day before.

President Ram Nath Kovind gives his assent to The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. pic.twitter.com/rbjgyLukVT

— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2019

Notably, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday withdrew the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Second Amendment) Bill 2019 in Lok Sabha soon after the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill was passed in Lok Sabha. He said, “Now that the Reorganisation Bill has been passed, there’s no need for the amendment.”

The reservation bill had sought to ensure that the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) of the population in J&K get their 10 per cent quota in the reservation. Notably, as per the bill, all the residents of the Union Territory earning an income below Rs 8 lakh per annum would have been eligible for the 10 per cent reservation quota. Prior to the introduction of the bill in the Upper House of the Parliament on Monday, a BJP leader had said, “People should get the benefit of it. I don’t think anybody would oppose it. We are bringing the bill with good intentions.”

(With Agency inputs)