Govt extends deadline for Registration of Bonafide Migrants, DPs for Domicile Certificate

J&K government Thursday extended the validity of its order providing for registration of bonafide migrants or Displaced Persons (DPs) for the purpose of issuance of Domicile certificate for a period of one year i.e., till May 15, 2024.

“It Is hereby ordered that the validity of Government Order No 52-JK(DMRRR) of 2020 dated May 16, 2020 extended vide Government Order No 44-JK(DMRRR) of 2021 dated June 22, 2021 and Government Order No 30-JK(DMRRR) of 2022 dated June 10, 2022 is hereby further extended for a period of one year i.e., till May 15, 2024,” read an order issued by J&K Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (DMRRR).

Earlier, the department vide Government Order No 30-JK(DMRRR) of 2022 dated June 10, 2022, the validity of Government Order No 52-JK(DMRRR) of 2020 dated May 16, 2020, extended vide Government Order No. 44-JK(DMRRR) of 2021 dated June 22, 2021 was further extended for a period of one year i.e., till May 15, 2023.

By virtue of order issued on May 16, 2020, DMRRR Department had notified the Relief & Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrant), Jammu and Kashmir as the competent authority for the purpose of registration of Displaced Persons (DPs) besides Kashmiri migrants for the purpose of issuance of domicile certificates.

Objective stated was to facilitate “bonafide persons, displaced persons or migrants and their descendants who are not registered with the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants) in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Explaining the rationale of order, the department had pointed out that Section 3A(1)(b) of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Decentralization and Recruitment) Act, 2010, as amended by Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Adaptation of State Laws) Order, 2020, provided that “any person who is registered as a migrant by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants) in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir shall be eligible to be treated as a domicile for the purposes of the said Act.”

“After consideration of the matter, the government of Jammu and Kashmir is of the view that there may be other bonafide persons, displaced persons or migrants and their descendants who are not registered with the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants) in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and may have been left out for a variety of reasons such as being outside Jammu and Kashmir; not having been able to register in the past; being registered as migrants with governments elsewhere; due to circumstances beyond their control, etc., and it is expedient to provide a procedure for registration of such migrants or displaced persons in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, for the purposes of getting Domicile Certificate only,” it was specified.

As per the order, the bonafide migrants and bonafide displaced persons who are not yet registered with the Relief & Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrant), Jammu and Kashmir, can apply before the competent authority for registration for the purpose of issuance of a domicile certificate only, with any one of the specified documents, for registration.

Specified documents included copy of the Permanent Resident Certificate of the applicant or his parents or grandparents issued by a competent authority in Jammu and Kashmir; copy of the Electoral Roll for the year 1951, showing the name of the applicant or his or her parents or grandparents; copy of the Electoral Roll for the year 1988, showing the name of the applicant or his or her parents or grandparents, provided that the applicant or his or her parents or grandparents in these three cases include both males and females.

Specified documents also included proof of working in an autonomous body or an entity fully or partially owned by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir before or after migration on November 1, 1989; proof of owning or possessing immovable property in any part of Jammu and Kashmir on or after May 14, 1944; proof of registration as a migrant or a Displaced Person of Jammu and Kashmir with any competent authority or Governments of other States/UTs and proof of having any documentation which would have made the person eligible to obtain a Permanent Resident Certificate of Jammu and Kashmir before August 6, 2019.

The order had specified that those Kashmiri migrants already registered with the Relief & Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrant), Jammu and Kashmir for relief or non-relief purposes needed not to register again for issuance of domicile certificate.

“They can apply on the basis of their existing registration. This opportunity of registration for the purpose of obtaining domicile certificate shall be open only for a period of one year, from the date of issuance of this order,” the order issued on May 16, 2020 had mentioned.