Over 6,600 receive J&K domicile in a week; retired soldiers & officials from Gorkha community biggest beneficiaries

Jammu and Kashmir administration has started issuing domicile certificate from the last one week, till now about 6600 people have got their original residence certificate. A large number of them are retired soldiers and officers of the Gorkha community. After obtaining the domicile certificate of J&K, these people can buy property in J&K and will be able to apply for jobs in this union territory.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Jammu (Revenue) Vijay Kumar Sharma said that so far more than 5900 certificates have been issued. About 700 certificates have been issued in Kashmir. Most of them are Gorkha soldiers and officers.

Many of the applicants also belong to the Valmiki community who were brought to J&K in 1957 from the State of Punjab after local sanitation workers had gone on a strike.

Dr. Rohit Sharma, Tehsildar of Bahu Tehsil in Jammu, said, “So far in my Tehsil about 2500 people of Gorkha community who have served in the Indian Army and their family members have been issued this certificate.”

This decision of the government has ended a very long struggle of the Gorkha community. People of Gorkha community have been living here for about 150 years. They had almost given up on it. But now this wait seems to be over.

The domicile rules had been notified by the J&K administration on May 18, with a rider that issuing officers (tehsildars in this case) who did not provide certificates in 15 days would be penalised Rs 50,000. Non-locals who had lived in J&K for 15 years, their children, officers with central government and central institutions and anyone who has studied in J&K for seven years and appeared in the Class X or XII exams became eligible.