Srinagar, Sept. 16 -- People's Conference president and Handwara MLA Sajad Gani Lone on Wednesday criticised the reservation system in Jammu and Kashmir, calling it "recruitment apartheid".

His remarks came after the recently announced appointments to the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) and J&K Accounts (Gazetted) cadres, in which only 10 of the 55 selected officers are from the Kashmir Valley.

He alleged that it was a calculated strategy to "disempower and marginalise the inhabitants of the Valley."

"Kashmir accounts for approximately 56% of the total population of the Union Territory; the Valley has received a mere 18% of the positions, which is clearly a stark, unconscionable and deliberate disparity," he said.

Lone...