 "Over 83,000 non-locals issued domicile certificates since 2022: J&K govt")
More than 83,000 individuals who were not originally permanent residents (non-state subjects) of Jammu and Kashmir have received domicile certificates over the past two years, the J&K government said in the Assembly on Wednesday.
In a written response to a query by PDP leader Waheed ur Rehman Para, the J&K Revenue department disclosed that a total of 3.512 million domicile certificates had been issued during this period. Of these, 83,742 were granted to individuals who did not meet the earlier criteria of being ‘state subjects’, the term previously used for permanent residents in the region.
Shift from ‘state subject’ to ‘domicile’
The reply emphasised that the term ‘state subject’, which originated from the erstwhile Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, is no longer valid following the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. The earlier framework had laid out specific conditions for determining permanent residency, which no longer apply under the current legal structure.
Historical criteria for permanent residency
Under the now-defunct J&K Constitution, individuals were considered permanent residents if they fulfilled certain conditions as of May 14, 1954. This included being classified as Class I or Class II state subjects.
Class-I: People born and residing in the region before Maharaja Gulab Singh’s rule began in 1846, or those who settled in the state before Samvat year 1942 (1885).
Class-II: Individuals who migrated to J&K, permanently settled, and acquired immovable property prior to Samvat year 1968 (1911), during the reign of Maharaja Pratap Singh.
Additionally, the law also allowed for the return and resettlement of people who had migrated to areas that became Pakistan but returned with official permits.
New rules introduced post-Article 370
In May 2020, the J&K administration announced new guidelines for domicile certification under the J&K Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure) Rules, 2020. This was preceded by the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of State Laws) Order, 2020, which redefined domicile eligibility.
According to these updated rules, individuals can claim domicile status if they have:
-Lived in Jammu and Kashmir for at least 15 years, or
-Studied for seven years and appeared in Class 10 or 12 exams in the UT.
Previously excluded groups now eligible
Among those now eligible are West Pakistan Refugees, sanitation workers (safai karamcharis), and children of women from J&K who married outside the region. These categories had long been denied residency rights under the earlier laws.