Table of Contents
- In last week of December 2019, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court first issued and later withdrew a notification seeking applications from across the country for recruitment of 33 non-gazetted posts.
- It was the first instance of government jobs that made candidates from other states also eligible to apply.
- The administration is considering a 15-year residency clause for jobs in local government of UT of Ladakh and J&K.
Why?
- To allay fears of local residents in matters of employment and land in both UTs.
- By bringing such a law, interests of local people for jobs and land in both the new Union Territories will be protected after scrapping J&K’s special status under Articles 370 and 35A.
What will the new rules be ?
- 15-year minimum residency norm for an outsider to attain domicile status.
- The 15-year residency requirement will make it impossible for new settlers to obtain government jobs, land ownership, seats in professional course in public colleges.
Exception to Industries
- There would be no such condition for industrial houses to buy land for setting up business ventures and construct quarters for their employees
Exception to Government employees
- Different categories of people from outside who would be exempt from this norm while availing other benefits, including admission in government higher education institutions.
- Central Govt. officials and their children, and students from other states and UTs who may have cleared their Class 10 or Class 12 board exams in J&K or Ladakh.
- Officers from all-India services and their children are considered domicile of their respective cadre states usually
Earlier law
- In 1932, the last Dogra king Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir brought in a rule as per which 10 years of continuous stay was required for “foreign nationals” to buy property in the state and be considered “Class III state subjects” .
- This rule was set aside by the Constituent Assembly in 1954 while amending the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution Act, 1939.
- As per that amendment, a permanent resident in the erstwhile state would only be a person who “lawfully acquired immovable property” before May 14, 1954 and “has been ordinarily resident in the State for not less than ten years prior to the date’’.
- Article 35A of the Indian Constitution was an article that empowered the Jammu and Kashmir state’s legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and provide special rights and privileges to those permanent residents.
- employment under the State Government;
- acquisition of immovable property in the State;
- settlement in the State; or
- right to scholarships and such other forms of aid as the State Government may provide,
- Non-permanent residents of the state, even if Indian citizens, were not entitled to these ‘privileges’.
Plight of West Pakistan refugees
- The amendment of 1954 deprived thousands of refugees from erstwhile West Pakistan, who had settled in Jammu province following the 1947 Partition, from becoming permanent residents of the state.
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