Aug 19, 2025: A group of open merit students has launched a similar campaign in response to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's announcement of a signature campaign for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood, demanding an immediate review of the current reservation policy. The Cabinet Sub-Committee has been working on reservations-related issues for more than two months. The report was sent to the Law Department for review, but no decision has yet been made. Open merit students claim that the prolonged delay has a significant impact on their prospects for the future. The Union Territory administration headed by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha approved a reservation of 10% for members of the Pahari community in 2024, which resulted in an increase in the proportion of reserved seats across all categories overall. Students from the general category argue that this change has further reduced the number of seats available to open merit candidates in government jobs.

“Over 6,500 signatures have been collected since Sunday, when we launched our digital signature campaign. Sahil Parray, who was speaking on behalf of the Open Merit Students Association, stated, "But our goal is 50,000 voices to make those in power pay attention." “The future of our youth is at stake. This policy regarding reservations is unfair and unjust. According to Parray, they had collected offline signatures earlier this year and sent them to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, but they had received no response, according to The Tribune. “He didn’t show any interest then,” he claimed.

However, after the Chief Minister recently announced a signature campaign for restoring statehood during his Independence Day address, Parray said the students were hopeful their campaign might now be taken seriously. He added, "We believe the Chief Minister should also consider ours because the Chief Minister has endorsed the idea of public campaigns." Another open merit student stated that they are investigating all options for expressing their concerns. Our elected government has been in place for a few months now. The student stated, "We just want our voices to be heard and this issue to be resolved." The students have two primary demands: the public release of the Cabinet Sub-Committee report and a quick decision on the reservation policy review.