Nearly eight months after withdrawal of Jammu & Kashmir’s special status, the central government on April 1 laid down rules for domicile which can now be given to anyone who has resided in the Union Territory for 15 years.

The provisions were made through a gazette notification, titled the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization (Adaptation of State Laws) Order-2020, in which 138 laws of the erstwhile state were scrutinised and changed or repealed.

As many as 28 of the 138 Acts have been repealed as the government laid down a procedure for being a domicile of the Union Territory, which came into existence on October 31, 2019, after the Centre abrogated special status to the erstwhile state and bifurcated it into UTs of Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh.

What is a domicile certificate?

A domicile/residence certificate is generally issued to prove that the person bearing the certificate is a domicile/resident of the state/UT. This certificate is required as proof of residence to avail domicile/resident quotas in educational institutions and in the government service, as also in case of jobs where local residents are preferred.

Under the new law, anyone who has resided for 15 years in Jammu & Kashmir or has studied for seven years and appeared in Class 10 and Class 12 examinations in an educational institution located in the Union Territory is a domicile.

Anyone who is registered as a migrant by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants) will also be deemed to be a domicile. Children of all-India services personnel who have served there for 10 years also come under the category.

The others who can be deemed to be a domicile include 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 & Kashmir for 10 years.

One of the Acts amended was the Jammu & Kashmir Civil Services (Decentralisation and Recruitment) in which a clause for domicile category was introduced under which jobs up to Group-4 in the government were protected. Group-4 is equivalent to the rank of constable in police parlance and multi-tasking staff.

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