Srinagar, Sep 1 (IANS): The Jammu & Kashmir government on Tuesday said that the issuance of domicile certificates has been accelerated as about 12.5 lakh of these certificates have been issued so far with over 99 per cent being erstwhile PRC holders.

Addressing a press conference here, Principal Secretary, Power Development Department and Information Department, Rohit Kansal, who is also the government spokesperson, said that the process of issuance of domicile certificates is picking up rapidly and certificate issuance is being monitored regularly.

Kansal was flanked by Principal Secretary and Financial Commissioner Revenue Pawan Kotwal and Director Information and Public Relations Syed Sehrish Asgar.

"About 12.5 lakh Domicile Certificates have been issued so far. Over 99 per cent of those issued certificates include erstwhile PRCs or Kashmiri Pandit migrants. The process of issuance will be further accelerated and the issuance will be monitored to ensure that pendency is brought down to the lowest," Kansal said.

He added that so far 11,398 West Pakistan refugees, 415 Valmiki community members, 10 Gorkha community members and 12,340 registered migrants have been issued domicile certificates.

Giving a background about the procedure, he said that the government had notified the Jammu & Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure) Rules, 2020, which is the basic eligibility condition for appointment to any post under the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir following amendments in the Jammu & Kashmir Civil Services (Decentralisation and Recruitment) Act, 2010.

Kansal reaffirmed that the rules provide a simple and time-bound procedure for the issuance of the Domicile Certificate so that no one is put to any inconvenience, besides there are provisions for time-bound issuance for certificates including an Appellate Authority whose orders will be binding and which also has revisional powers.

"The rules have a provision that applications for grant of Domicile Certificate can be submitted either physically or electronically online. The Competent Authority can also issue domicile certificate(s) electronically," he said.

He also mentioned that the Permanent Residents of the erstwhile state of J&K in whose favour Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) has been issued by the competent authority before October 31, 2019 shall be eligible for receiving their Domicile Certificates on the basis of PRCs alone and no other additional document shall be required for such residents.

Similarly, he noted that for Kashmiri migrants, a very simple procedure has been prescribed for they can get the domicile certificate on production of either a PRC or certificate of registration of migrant and added that further for bona fide migrants and bona fide displaced persons who have migrated but have not registered with the relief department, there is a special limited provision for registration.

He further explained that in order to further simplify the process and ensure issuance of domicile in the bare minimum time, the government has issued a notification SO 263 dated: 25th of August, 2020 whereby the competent authority has been bound to issue the domicile certificates provided under clause 1(a) and clause 4(a) within a period of five working days from the date such application is received by it.