Centre tweaks J&K domicile rule on jobs
nNEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday amended its domicile policy of Jammu and Kashmir, days after implementing the rules, saying thatallgovernmentjobswerenow reserved only for the domiciles of the Union territory, a move that cameafteroppositionbykashmiri politicians.
Accordingtothepolicynotified by the Union home ministry on Tuesday and which became effective on Wednesday, any person who has stayed in Jammu and Kashmir for 15 years or studied in the region for seven years and appearedintheclass10/12examinationwillbeeligibletocallithisor herdomicile,orpermanenthome. The original policy reserved only level-4 government jobs for J&K residents.
Anofficialnotificationreleased late on Friday, however, said that the government will reserve all government posts for domicile of Jammuandkashmirunionterritory. Political outfits earlier demanded that the law be revised sothatthejobreservationwasnot limitedtolevel-4jobsandthequota wouldcovergroupaandgroupb posts.
On Friday, Altaf Bukhari, founder of the new political party Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party, met Union home minister Amit Shahanddemandedthatallgazetted and non-gazetted jobs across district, division and state level be reserved for local residents only.
“Iapprisedboththehomeminister and the National Security Adviseroftheconcernsofthepeople of Jammu and Kashmir of the newdomicilelawanditsshortcomings,” Bukhari told HT. He said he wasassuredbythehomeminister thattheconcernswillbeaddressed.
The new domicile policy was necessitated by the scrapping on August 5, 2019 of Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted specialstatustojammuandkashmir, andbifurcationintotwounionterritories -- J&K and Ladakh. The Centre also did away with Article 35A, which allowed the erstwhile state assembly to decide who is a permanentresident.stategovernmentjobsandlandownershipwere the exclusive preserve of permanent residents under the old dispensation. Kashmiris have been concerned that people from anywhereelseinthecountrywouldbe abletoapplyforgovernmentjobsin J&kandsettleinthenewlycarvedoutunionterritory,leadingtodemographic change in the region.