Soz demands white paper on issuance of 17 lakhs domicile certificates in JK

Srinagar: Former Union Minister Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz on Wednesday demanded a white paper on the issuance of the domicile certificates saying that Jammu & Kashmir Government has issued over 17 lakh Domicile Certificates, approximately, within just a short time of couple of weeks, and called it “reckless”.
In a statement issued here on Wednesday Soz said “the most worrying aspect of this hot-haste exercise is that these certificates have been issued to those persons also, who do not possess Permanent Resident Certificates and this is what makes this whole exercise reckless.”
“Data revealed by the government says that 16.79 Lakh certificates have been issued to residents till September 14, 2020. As per the figures, a total of 21,13,879 applied for the issuance of the certificate of which 16,79,520 were issued the domicile till the 15th of September. The certificates issued include over 4.16 lakh in the Kashmir division and 12.44 lakh in the Jammu division”,the statement reads.
However, officials dismissed the allegations saying that out of nearly 17 Lakh Domicile certificates issued, as many as 14.32 lakh were issued to state subject applicants and non-state subject applicants and their children, including 1.01 lakh to state subjects and 45794 to non-state subjects. Only 34045 certificates have been issued to the students under (clause3) including 24455 state subjects and 9590 non-state subjects; and 18612 to Kashmiri Migrants/ children (Clause 4), officials said.
According to officials, 28,468 Certificates have been issued in the Kashmir division and 1.09 lakh in Jammu division under other clauses of the New Domicile Law. The domicile certificates issued to the PRC holders include over 10.75 lakh in Jammu division and around 3.57 lakh in the Kashmir division. The government says that 21,13,879 applications were received till September 14, 2020, across the UT, and over 2.70 lakh are still pending, including 1.44 lakh in Jammu division and around 1.00 lakh in Kashmir Division. Jammu has topped the Domicile Certificate applications on account of West Pakistan Refugees, Gorkha Community, and Balmikis. Data reveals that the 19,571 West Pakistani Refugees, 2,424 Balmiki community members, and 765 Gorkha Community members were also issued domicile certificates till now.
The process of issuing domicile certificates in Jammu & Kashmir was started in the last week of June 2020. The application for the issuing of the domicile certificates can be submitted in tehsildar offices, even as eligible persons can also apply online. The online facility has also been made available to avoid gatherings in view of Covid threat.