Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will get the status of a state at an “appropriate time”. Shah made the remarks in the Lok Sabha during a discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, which was passed by a voice vote.
The ordinance enables the merger of the Jammu and Kashmir cadre of the All India Service officers with the AGMUT cadre. AGMUT stands for Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories. Experts fear this merger would erode the presence of Kashmiris in key bureaucratic positions within the Valley.
It was a part of the changes implemented on August 2019, when the Narendra Modi government stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status under Article 370 that gave its residents special rights in land ownership and jobs. The region was also divided into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
During the discussions on Saturday, the Opposition objected to…