 Early Times Report
Jammu, July 5: A majority of the retired Gorkha and Valmiki community soldiers and officers have been issued domicile certificates by the Jammu and Kashmir administration.
According to a reports, in the past one week, over 6,600 applicants from the Gorkha community have received the document which allows them to buy property, acquire land and apply for jobs in the Union territory.
Vijay Kumar Sharma, additional deputy commissioner (Revenue) Jammu said, “More than 5,900 certificates have already been issued,” as per report .
“There are nearly 2500 soldiers from the Gorkha community who have served in the Indian armed forces in my tehsil and around 3,500 from their family have also applied to get the domicile. Among these, many also belong to the Valmikin community also,” said Dr. Rohit Sharma, who serves as a tehsildar of Bahu in Jammu.
“On an average, 200 applications are received each day, and so far 33,000 applications have been received,” he further added.
Applicants can apply through both the ways- Online and offline to get the certificates issued. To get the certificates through offline mode, applicants are instructed to visit the local Tehsildar’s office otherwise, those who wish to apply online can visit the state government website.
As per the reports, On May 18, the Jammu and Kashmir administration notified the grant of domicile certificate procedure rules, 2020 to issue the certificate within 15 days else the officer will be penalised 50,000 Rs. According to the order, non-locals living in Jammu and Kashmir for 15 years, their children, and officers with central government and central institutions and anybody who has studied in J&K for seven years and had appeared in Class X and Class XII exams become eligible to get the certificates.
Navin Chaudhary, an IAS officer from Bihar, who had served the J&K government for 26 years became the first senior non-local officer to be issued a domicile certificate, the report quoted.
The Gorkha community, which originally hails from Nepal, moved to Jammu and Kashmir in the mid-19th century after being invited by the Dogra regime to fight at the border alongside them. Around a total of one lakh, Gorkhas live in Jammu and Kashmir now. Prior to this decision, the community was allowed to cast vote in local and assembly polls but were barred from owning land and property in the state.
The Valmiki community entered the state from Punjab in 1957 when the local sanitisation works went on a strike. The protest was lead largely by four groups- The Valmikis, Gorkha servicemen, West Pakistan refugees including the women who had been married outside J&K.
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