Jammu and Kashmir issues 1.25 million domicile certificates, pending cases to be cleared in a week

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration has issued around 1.25 million domicile certificates as of August 31 and about 450,000 applications are still pending.
The administration on Tuesday said 99% of the domicile certificates were issued to holders of permanent resident certificate (PRC) of the erstwhile state of J&K.

The new domicile rules, implemented by the Centre in March, allow people from outside J&K to apply for local government jobs provided they meet certain conditions.

The administration clarified that the domicile certificate is only for jobs and does not give its holders the right to buy land in the union territory or to be included in the voters’ list.

“Issuance of domicile certificates have nothing to do with land holding,” said Pawan Kotwal, principal secretary, revenue, of J&K. “Domicile certificate doesn’t entitle anybody to hold land in J&K.”

Other than PRC holders, 11,398 domicile certificates have been issued to West Pakistan refugees, 12,340 to registered migrants, 415 to Valmikis and 10 to Gorkhas, he said.

Government figures reveal that 286,238 domicile certificates have been issued in Kashmir division while as 945,418 certificates have been issued in Jammu division.

“20,000 applications have been rejected while as the pending cases will be cleared within a week,” Kotwal said.

Rohit Kansal, spokesperson of J&K administration, said the process of issuance of domicile certificates has been simplified and revenue officers have been directed to issue the certificate within five days. “Administration is open to further reduce the time of issuance,” he said.

J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha has directed the officers to speed up the process of deliverance of domicile certificates.

In August, the administration even removed a tehsildar in Jammu for delaying issuance of domicile certificates. “Over 70,000 cases were pending in his office, so he was removed from there,” Kotwal said. “It is not the question on his honesty. Government wants to do work as swiftly as possible.”

Many people, meanwhile, complained that 2G mobile internet speed has hampered the process of applying for the certificates.