Officials said that as many as 7 seats are likely to be reserved for SCs and 11 for STs.

They said the proportionate representation of SCs in the 90-member Assembly equals 6.64 seats as they constitute 7.38 per cent of J&K’s population.

“As their share works out to be 6.64 seats, they will get 7 seats as a fraction more than half is counted as one,” they said.

According to them, the proportionate share of STs, who constitute 11.91 per cent of J&K’s population, works out to be 10.71 seats in the 90-member House.

“As a fraction more than half is counted as one, STs will have 11 seats in J&K Assembly,” they said, adding that only SC and ST candidates can fight elections from the seats reserved for them.

According to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has to be, as nearly as can be, proportional to their population in J&K.

This is for the first time when STs will have political reservation in Jammu & Kashmir. In the erstwhile state of J&K, as many as seven seats were reserved for SCs but there was no such reservation for STs.

It is worthwhile to mention that a Delimitation Commission headed by Justice (retd.) Ranjana Desai was constituted by the Government of India in March 2020 to redraw the boundaries of Assembly segments in Jammu and Kashmir. kno