J&K’s New Domicile Rules Undo Injustice Done For 70 Years: Jitendra Singh

He said that this course correction was in keeping with the principle of equality and the norms of a healthy democracy.

NEW DELHI: Union Minister Jitendra Singh has said that a serious miscarriage of history has been undone after 70 years with the notification of the new domicile rules by Jammu and Kashmir Administration.

Terming the new rules as the dawn of a new era for the Union Territory, he said history will vindicate us and prove that this course correction was in keeping with the principle of equality and the norms of a healthy democracy.

People belonging to West Pakistan, Valmikis, women marrying outside communities, non-registered Kashmiri migrants and displaced people will soon get domicile under a new set of rules issued by the Jammu and Kashmir administration.

In an interview to a TV channel, Dr Jitendra Singh noted that three generations of people of Jammu and Kashmir had been denied their right to live with justice and dignity, and it was heartening to see this redemption happening in this lifetime. This – notification of new rules — will prove to be a blessing for future generations, he said.

Dr Singh said those who are opposing this move are only exposing themselves to the accusation that for the last 70 years they had been thriving on politics of discrimination.

He said, it is an irony that all India service officers, including IAS and IPS, who devoted 30 to 35 years of their life to serve in Jammu & Kashmir were, at the end of the day, after superannuation, asked to pack up, leave and look for a place elsewhere to settle.

This was quite in contrast to the arrangement in several states and UTs where the all India service officers of state cadre are not only allowed to settle but are also provided plots of land for the same, he said.

Similarly, a gross injustice was being done to the children of these officials who did their entire schooling in Jammu and Kashmir but were debarred from applying for admission to higher education institutions there, the minister said.

Singh said that this should be seen as an opportunity for wider exposure and capacity building for children so that they can prepare themselves to flourish in global India.