Srinagar, Dec. 5 -- The decision to cut reservation quota for Residentially Backward Areas (RBA) in Jammu and Kashmir affects those who have lived on the margins for decades. Kashmir travel guide

Officials call it "rationalization," a word that sounds fair, but for people from remote regions, the impact is anything but.

RBA reservation is about geography. It is about communities left without basic facilities for generations. It is about villages that remain cut off from electricity, roads, hospitals, and schools.

The new quota structure leaves SC and ST communities untouched, but the RBA, representing some of the most neglected populations, has been asked to pay the price.

Rationalization begins with those who already have the least...