Facing criticism over the J&K domicile laws, the Union Home Ministry notified amendments into order late on Friday night to say “a post carrying a pay scale of not more than level-4 is a domicile of Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.”
Now, all government jobs in J&K government to be reserved for domicile residents irrespective of level and pay scale.
The earlier notification which came out on Wednesday in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic defines rules for claiming domicile and access to reserved government jobs for the people of the Union Territory. The reservation will not apply to Group A and Group B posts and only to level 4 posts or posts that carry a payscale not more than level 4.
It meant all the higher level jobs are out of the purview of reservation for domiciles, also the 15-year threshold for claiming domicile means that anyone who comes in to work in J&K and stays on for 15 years, their children, if they stay here, will be considered for domicile. No cut off date for calculating this 15- year period.
Political parties including the recent floated Apni Party had criticised the move and has taken up the issue with centre and Union home minister Amit Shah.
The order issued late night on Friday 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 “tehsildar.” In all it made six changes to earlier order issued last Tuesday.
After revoking the special Status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 on August 5 last year, 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.”
The amendments meant that the domiciles would have been eligible “for the purposes of appointment to any post carrying a pay scale of not more than Level-4.” The level 4 post comprises positions such as gardeners, barbers, office peons and waterman and the highest rank in the category is that of a junior assistant.
There was strong protest by all political parties in J&K including the newly formed Apni Party. The BJP unit of Jammu lodged a strong protest with Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday.
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