Cabinet nod to 10% EWS quota in J-K, chit fund bills

The Union Cabinet approved a bill on Wednesday to provide up to 10% reservation in jobs and educational institutions to Jammu and Kashmir’s economically weaker sections.

Union information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar said the decision to extend social justice to poorer sections was taken earlier and now it has been decided that the benefits should be extended to the state of Jammu and Kashmir as well. A bill in this regard would be brought in Parliament, he said.

According to an official statement, the cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019.

The Cabinet in its meeting on Wednesday also approved a bill that seeks to regulate the registered chit funds industry and protect the interest of subscribers, Union minister Javadekar said. The Cabinet gave its approval to the introduction of Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019, in Parliament, he said.

The government on Wednesday hiked the subsidy on non-urea fertilisers to make farm nutrients available at affordable prices to farmers, a move that would cost the exchequer
₹22,875.50 crore in this fiscal.

A decision in this regard was taken at the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The CCEA approves NBS rates for Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilizers for the year 2019-20; expected expenditure during 2019-20 to be ₹22,875.50 crore,” Javadekar said.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an extension of six months in the term of the five-member commission examining sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes in the central list.

This is the seventh extension of the term given to the commission, formed in October 2017.