Amid controversy over domicile law, J&K begins recruitment for over 8,500 posts

Arteev Sharma
Tribune News Service
Jammu, June 26

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Amid controversy over issuance of domicile certificates to “non-locals” following abrogation of Article 370 last year, the UT administration has finally begun the recruitment process for over 8,500 posts in Class-IV category.

In its notification issued here on Friday, Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) has advertised 8,575 posts in district, divisional and UT cadres under Special Recruitment Rules-2020.

“The online submission of applications would start on July 10 while the government has fixed 15 days period for submission of application forms, till July 25,” the notification said, adding, “The candidate should be a domicile of the Union Territory of J&K”.

All the residents of erstwhile J&K state, who are in possession of Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) before October 31 last year, would get the domicile certificate.

Children of West Pakistan Refugees, Valmikis, displaced persons, PoK families and Kashmiri migrants settled outside J&K and those living for 15 years, besides kin of Central government officials would now be entitled for domicile and subsequently for government jobs in J&K.

A senior J&K cadre IAS officer from Bihar, Navin Kumar Choudhary, is among the nearly 25,000 people who have been granted a domicile certificate—which allows non-locals to get a residency certificate for education, employment and buying land—in the UT.

Various political groups in Jammu and Kashmir have opposed the issuance of domicile certificates to “non-locals”.

“All our misgivings about the new domicile rules in J&K are coming to the fore. We in @JKNC_ opposed the changes because we could see the nefarious design behind the changes. The people of J&K on both sides of the Pir Panjal mountains will be the sufferers of these domicile rules,” former chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted.

The PDP, in a statement, also voiced its opposition to the domicile rules, alleging that the Centre intends “demographic flooding in J&K while plundering people of their identity and constitutional guarantees”.