Sj Desk
Close to eight months after scrapping Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, the Centre has modified domicile rules that guide the eligibility to be appointed to junior posts in the bureaucracy and the constabulary.
The new domicile rules for the erstwhile state's recruitment law are framed to address concerns that the union territory status for Jammu and Kashmir would result in demographic changes since people from any part of the country could apply for jobs and settle in J&K.
Prior to the scrapping of Article 370, only people who were considered permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir were eligible for jobs in the state government. Last month, in a meeting with a delegation of Kashmiri politicians, Home Minister Amit Shah said that the central government did not plan to carry out demographic changes in the union territory.
The minister also assured that the new domicile rule for J&K would be better than any other state.
On Tuesday, the home ministry in a notification said that any person who has stayed in J&K for 15 years or has studied for a period of seven years and appeared in Class 10th/12th examination will be deemed as a domicile.
Children of central government officials, All India Services, officials of Public Sector Undertakings and autonomous bodies of the central government, public sector banks, officials of statutory bodies, officials of central universities and recognized research institutes of the central government who have served in Jammu and Kashmir for a total period of 10 years will also be considered to be domiciled in the union territory, said the notification.
Children of residents of Jammu and Kashmir who reside outside the union territory in connection with their employment, business or other professional or vocational reasons will also be treated to be domiciled in the UT if their parents fulfill the eligibility criteria to get a domicile certificate.
The domicile condition would apply for recruitment to all posts that come with a basic salary of Rs 25,500.
