Recent reports suggested the J&K administration under Governor Satya Pal Malik was looking to ease the procedure for the grant of permanent resident status.
New Delhi: Jammu & Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has refuted reports about an imminent tweak in rules to grant permanent resident certificates (PRCs) for the state, clarifying that the administration was only looking to ease the hurdles faced by “bona-fide” applicants.
Malik’s clarification came on the heels of an uproar in the state over reports that he had sought comments from administrative officials on a proposal to simplify the procedure for the grant of permanent resident status, which is governed by the Jammu & Kashmir Public Service Guarantee Act 2011.
This is an emotive question in the J&K, which enjoys special constitutional provisions to preserve its demographic make-up.
Article 35A of the Constitution empowers the J&K assembly to decide who is identified as a permanent resident, and is thus eligible for state benefits.
This provision has been challenged in the Supreme Court amid calls from some quarters to strip J&K — which acceded to India under certain conditions — of its special status, with the case now slated for a January hearing.
The state has been under Governor’s rule since June, when the collapse of a fragile alliance between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) left J&K without a government.
The duties of the state cabinet are being carried out by a state administrative council, set up and led by Malik.
The state’s assembly, too, was dissolved last month by Malik, a controversial decision that earned the governor much criticism from local players as well as the Congress.
Also read: One solution governor Satya Pal Malik failed to consider in Jammu and Kashmir
Abdullah’s letter
Reports of the alleged tweak in PRC rules had prompted former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, a leader of the National Conference (NC) party, to write a protest letter to Malik, who replied that the concerns were unwarranted.
“At the outset, I would like to mention that the government is not making or even considering any changes to the Act governing permanent resident certificates in the state,” he said.
Malik wrote that while the Act laid down a 30-day deadline for the grant of PRCs, several applicants faced “avoidable difficulties” in getting them within this time-frame. He said the only thing the administration sought to do was ensure PRCs were issued on time.
He also requested Abdullah to not pay heed to “frivolous and unfounded reports”, saying he should “dispel rather than promote unnecessary mistrust among people”.
Soon afterwards, Abdullah tweeted in praise of the governor’s “timely and detailed” reply.
“This is how a mature democracy functions—we flag our concerns with the person in authority and those concerns are addressed. When we can’t meet face to face, we use technology,” he wrote.
‘A bid to distort demography’
Abdullah had written to Malik Sunday, decrying the attempt to “distort the demography of the state”.
Saying that the state administrative council was “unilaterally bringing changes” in the working of institutions and procedures, Abdullah said it was “against the principles and spirit of democracy and participative governance”.
As he posted the letter on Twitter, Abdullah also sought to point out that he had been unable to fax it to Raj Bhavan, saying that the machine was not working. However, Malik disputed this.
This is the second big controversy for the Raj Bhavan’s fax machine within days. Earlier, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti had become the first Indian political leader to take to Twitter to stake claim to form the government, after the governor’s fax machine allegedly did not receive her letter in this regard.
She had sought to form the government at the head of a coalition with arch rival NC and the Congress, just as the BJP and its ally Peoples Conference of Sajad Lone mounted a similar bid. It was after this that Malik dissolved the assembly, questioning political alliances formed by parties of opposing ideologies.
Lone was among those who slammed the purported PRC rule tweak, tweeting, “The governor administration needs to restrict itself to basic governance… Please don’t invent new problems.”