SRINAGAR: During the High Powered Committee (HPC) meeting chaired by Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, the Centre introduced a domicile policy for the Union Territory of Ladakh, setting a 15-year residency requirement.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) which is an amalgam of various political, social, trade and religious groups of Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh UT, in New Delhi on May 27.
As per gazette notification issued by the central government, after section 3 of the principal Act, any person who fulfils the following conditions shall be domicile of the Union territory of Ladakh for the purposes of appointment to any post under the Union territory or under a local or other authority (other than cantonment Board) within the Union territory, namely:— (a) who has resided for a period of fifteen years in the Union territory; or (b) who has studied for a period of seven years and appeared in class 10th or 12th examination in an educational institution located in the Union territory.
“Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the following persons shall be domicile under sub-section (1), namely:–– (a) children of those Central Government Officials, All India Services Officers, Officials of Public Sector Undertaking and Autonomous body of Central Government, Public Sector Banks, Officials of Statutory bodies, Officials of the Central Universities and recognised Research institutes of Central Government who shall have served in the Union territory for a total period of ten years; (b) the children of parents who fulfils any of the conditions specified in sub-section (1); or (c) the children of such residents of Union territory who resides outside the Union territory in connection with their employment or business or other professional or vocational reasons, but their parents fulfil any of the conditions specified in sub-section (1),” reads the gazette notification.It further stated that notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the spouse of a domicile shall also be deemed to be a domicile for the purposes of sub-section (1).
“The Tehsildar within his territorial jurisdiction shall be the Competent Authority for issuance of domicile certificate: Provided that the Administration of the Union territory may notify any other officer to be the Competent Authority for issuance of domicile certificate,” the gazette notification stated.
LAB executive member Chering Dorje said the MHA has agreed to a cap of 15 years for domicile in Ladakh UT.
“15 years timeline has been fixed for a person to be treated as a domicile of Ladakh. It means a person would be required to live in Ladakh for 15 years prospectively from 2019. A person would qualify to be a domicile of Ladakh only in 2034. Till 2034, none can qualify to be a domicile of Ladakh,” he said.
Dorje said the LAB and KDA had been demanding a 30 years cap for qualifying as a domicile in Ladakh.
“The centre has said it will discuss and examine our proposal for 30 years timeline for domicile with the Law minister. The centre will examine the feasibility of our proposal,” he said.
The LAB leader termed it a big development saying it is a step towards safeguarding the rights of Ladakh people.
The LAB and KDA are jointly spearheading agitation for the grant of statehood, 6th Schedule, 2 LS seats and separate Public Service Commission for Ladakh.
The KDA and LAB have held a series of protests and sit-ins in Ladakh, Jammu and Delhi to press the centre to fulfil their demands.
The climate activist and innovator Sonam Wangchuk has also supported the 4-point demand and has held hunger strikes to raise awareness among the demands and build pressure on the central government to accept the demands of Ladakh people.
After abrogation of Article 370 and downgrading and bifurcation of erstwhile J&K state into two UTs, people in Leh had celebrated the decision while those in Kargil district had opposed the move.
After initial euphoria, parties in Leh joined hands with political, religious and trade leaders of Kargil to jointly agitate for 4-point demands to safeguard the local identity and fragile environment of the UT.