After a span of eight months, the government decided to make changes to the domicile rules for the union territory of the Jammu and Kashmir. They made certain revisions in the recruitment policy so that they could address the concern of Jammu and Kashmir.
It was undergoing some major demographic changes due to the union territory status. People from different parts of the country could apply for jobs in J&K and could settle permanently.
To control this situation, they made changes in the rules. According to that, people who fit into the criteria were offered junior level roles in the constabulary and the bureaucracy.
The domicile rule was applicable for all the posts that had a basic salary of Rs. 25,500.
There was a different hiring process for the state government jobs before they had dropped the Article 370. The people who were the permanent residents of the erstwhile state would get a job in the state government.
Last month, a party of Kashmiri politicians met the Home Minister, Amit Shah. He had assured them that they were not planning to make any demographic changes in the union territory.
He guaranteed that the new rule for J&K will be better than other states. But parties begin to protest as the rules did not meet the assurance.
Reactions from different officials-Â
Last month, Altaf Bukhari who belongs to the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in Delhi. He was the first person who was disappointed with the revised rule.
The former PDP minister described it as an informal attempt to fool the people of J&K. So, he asked Shah not to notify people about this.
Former chief minister Omar Abdullah believed that the timing was not right. He tweeted, “Insult is heaped on the injury when we see the law offers none of the precautions that had been promised.”
Omar Abdullah also pointed to the reaction of Altaf Bukhari who stated that the law was so hollow that the leaders were also criticizing it.
Declarations made by the government-
On Tuesday evening, the Home ministry made an announcement that any person who has stayed in Jammu and Kashmir for more than 15 years or studied for 7 years and has given 10th/12th examination will be considered as a domicile.
The government said that all the children of Central government officials, officials of the Public Sector, All India Services, bodies of the Central government, banks of the Public Sector, officials of statutory bodies, officials of the Central universities and research institutes of the Central government who have worked for 10 years will also be considered as a domicile in the union territory.
The children of the people living in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir who live outside the union territory because of work, business or other professionals, and vocational reasons will also be considered as a domicile in the union territory if their parents satisfy all the criteria and can get a domicile certificate.
