MHA Modifies J&K Domicile Law, Reserves All Govt Jobs for Domiciles

New Delhi, April 4, 2020:

The Ministry of Home Affairs or MHA late on Friday issued a fresh order offering protection to domiciles to “any post” in the Government, including senior level positions in Group A and Group B category.

The development came after the MHA received backlash by all sections of society and political parties on its previous order issued on March 31, which offered protection to domiciles only in Group D and entry-level non-gazetted Government jobs.

The MHA order also removed the clause that any person fulfilling the criteria of domicile eligibility will “deemed to be” a domicile. The power to issue domicile certificates has been given to “tahsildar”. In all, it made six changes to previous order.

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The MHA amended a 2010 legislation — the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Decentralisation and Recruitment Act) on March 31 by substituting the term “permanent residents” with “domiciles of J&K.”

According to the order, domiciles are anyone “who has resided for a period of 15 years in the U.T. of J&K or has studied for a period of seven years and appeared in Class 10th/12th examination in an educational institution located in the U.T. of J&K or who is registered as a migrant by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants).”

“Children of Central Government officials, All India Services, PSUs, autonomous body of Centre, Public Sector Banks, officials of statutory bodies, Central Universities, recognised research institutes of Centre who have served in J&K for a total period of 10 years” will be domiciles.

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The domicile status also applies to “children of such residents of J&K who reside outside J&K in connection with their employment or business or other professional or vocational reasons but their parents should fulfill any of the conditions provided.”

The new move of the MHA is being considered as a huge U-turn by the Home Ministry.  Earlier, the Centre had reserved only level-4 jobs for the J&K residents, causing a huge resentment in the Union Territory.

According to MHA’s reply to a parliamentary panel on February 18, there are over 84,000 vacancies in J&K of which 22078 vacancies pertain to Class IV employees, 54375 to non-gazettted and 7552 vacancies at Gazetted level. With the latest order, J&K domiciles will be eligible for any post in the Government.

Prior to the changes, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah had lashed out at the Centre 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.

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"Talk about suspect timing. At a time when all our efforts & attention should be focused on the #COVID outbreak the government slips in a new domicile law for J&K. Insult is heaped on the injury when we see the law offers none of the protections that had been promised," Omar Abdullah said in a series of tweets.

The former chief minister of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir said the new law was so hollow that even politicians with "Delhi's blessings" were forced to criticise it.

"You can imagine how hollow the domicile law is from the fact that even the new party created with Delhi's blessings, whose leaders were lobbying in Delhi for this law, have been forced to criticise the #JKdomicilelaw," he tweeted.

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