Govt Amends J&K Domicile Order, Reserves All Govt Jobs For Residents

Earlier the Centre had reserved only level-4 jobs for the J&K residents, which is equivalent to the rank of constable in police parlance and multi-tasking staff in government offices, creating discontent among political parties, including the BJP

(FILE Photo by Tauseef MUSTAFA / AFP)

Srinagar: In reaction to a backlash from different quarters on the previous order, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) amended its notification to give reservation to all jobs for the domiciles of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The amendment has been brought in due to pressure from different sections of people including its own party. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah criticised the government over new domicile rules for J&K, saying it was an insult to injury of the people as there were none of the promised protections. According to the previous notification, the Centre had reserved only level-4 jobs for the J&K residents, which is equivalent to the rank of constable in police parlance and multi-tasking staff in government offices. It created discontent among political parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who were against the earlier order. The gazette notification -titled the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of State Laws) Order-2020 -- was revised on Friday night, reserving jobs for the domiciles of the UT, which was formed in October last year after the Centre withdrew the special status of the erstwhile state and announced its bifurcation. The revised notification now reads as, "Any person who fulfills the following conditions shall be a domicile of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the purposes of appointment to any post under the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.” "....no person shall be eligible for appointment to any post unless he is a domicile of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir," the amended Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Decentralisation and Recruitment) Act, which is a part of the notification, said. According to the notification, domiciles will now be identified as “those who have resided for a period of 15 years in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir or have studied for a period of seven years and appeared in Class 10/12 examination in educational institutions within the Union territory". Those who are registered as a migrant by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants) will also be deemed to be a domicile. Others who can be deemed to be a domicile include the children of those central government officials, all-India services officers, officials of PSU and autonomous bodies of the central government, public sector banks, officials of statutory bodies, central university officials and those of recognised research institutes of the central government, who have served in Jammu and Kashmir for 10 years. The children of those who fulfil any of the conditions or the children of such residents of Jammu and Kashmir who reside outside the Union territory in connection with their employment or business or other professional or vocational reasons, but their parents fulfil any of the conditions provided in the sub-section, are also considered domiciles, the notification said.