Naveen Chaudhary from Bihar first ‘outsider’ to get Kashmir domicile

After the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, for the first time domicile certificate has been issued to a person from outside of the Jammu and Kashmir. This certificate has been issued to IAS officer Naveen Chaudhary, who hails from Bihar. Naveen Chaudhary has got Domicile Certificate as per the new rule. Explain that after Narendra Modi came to power at the Center, on August 5 in 2019, he was removed from the state of Jammu and Kashmir, so that the people of the rest of India can now take citizenship of the Union Territory.

It is worth noting that IAS officer Naveen Chaudhary is currently working in the post of Commissioner Secretary in Agriculture Department in Jammu. Naveen Chaudhary is the first such bureaucrat outside Jammu and Kashmir who has been made a permanent resident of the state. Naveen Chaudhary, who was posted as Commissioner Secretary in the Department of Agriculture, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, is originally from Darbhanga district of Bihar. Earlier he had applied for Domicile Certificate in Bahu Tehsildar office of Jammu.

Among Navin Choudhary, nearly 25,000 people who have been granted a domicile certificate which allows non-locals to get a residency certificate for education, employment and buying land—in the Union Territory.

This is to certify, Shri Navin K Choudhary son of Shri Deokant Choudhary resident of at present Gandhi Nagar Jammu is a domicile of UT of J&K,” reads the domicile certificate issued by Bahu Tehsildar, Rohit Sharma.

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This certificate has been issued to Naveen Chaudhary under Rule 5 of the Jammu and Kashmir Grant Domicile Certificate (Procedure) Rules 2020. This law was recently implemented in Jammu and Kashmir, which was also opposed by many organizations. This domicile law of the state was approved by the Cabinet of the Central Government.

ALSO READ: JK mainstream parties oppose new domicile law

The government has received nearly 32,000 applications in 10 districts of Jammu Division while as Kashmir has received only 720 applications.

In Kashmir, the highest number of domicile certificates have been issued in Pulwama (153), followed by Anantnag (106), Kulgam (90), Baramulla (39), Shopian (20), Bandipora (10), Kupwara (10), Budgam (09), Ganderbal (1) and Srinagar (0).

In Jammu, the highest number of domicile certificates—8,500—have been issued in Doda, Rajouri 6,214, Poonch 6,123 and Jammu 2,820.

ALSO READ: Local parties, Pakistan rejects new domicile law, BJP calls it historical step

Nearly 414 domicile certificates are being processed in Jammu.

Officials said hundreds of West Pakistan Refugees and Valmiki Samaj members, who were invited to Jammu in 1957 when local sanitation workers went on strike, have been granted certificates.

The Central Government approved the new Domicile Act (Amendment) in Jammu and Kashmir after the end of Article 370 . In this, those people were recognized as permanent residents who have been living in Jammu and Kashmir for 15 years or those who have studied here for seven years and have given the 10th and 12th examination in the schools of this state.

However Omar Abdullah in a tweet said that "All our misgivings about the new domicile rules in J&K are coming to the fore. We in @JKNC_opposed the changes because we could see the nefarious design behind the changes. The people of J&K on both sides of the Pir Panjal mountains will be the sufferers of these domicile rules".

The PDP has been opposing the law for long saying, "Demographic change and disenfranchisement will further complicate the J & K issue which has claimed thousands of lives. This will be resisted through all democratic peaceful means."

Imran Nabi Dar, National Conference spokesman said, “Domicile Order and Rules would never be acceptable at any point of time because the measures are illegal, unconstitutional and are aimed at disempowering the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Before the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35-A, all jobs in the erstwhile state of J&K were exclusively reserved for permanent residents of the State. Under Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir was governed under the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir while Article 35-A was prohibiting people from outside from buying property in the erstwhile state and ensuring job reservation for permanent residents. Article 35A would empower the government of J&K to define a class of persons as constituting “permanent residents” of the erstwhile state and allow the government to confer on them special rights and privileges with respect to matters of public employment and acquisition of immovable property in the State.

Reported By Wahid Bhat, He is a Journalist based in Jammu and Kashmir.

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