Governor changing permanent residency rules in J&K, alleges political parties

Srinagar, Dec 2: The Jammu and Kashmir's four major political parties-- National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Congress and BJP ally People's Conference-- have alleged governor Satya Pal Malik was trying to change rules for issuing permanent resident certificates in the state - a very sensitive issue in Kashmir Valley.

The Permanent Residency Status is linked to the Constitution's Article 35A -- which grants the state its special status and has been challenged in the Supreme Court. It classifies people who are eligible as permanent residents in Jammu and Kashmir and enjoy special rights and privileges.

The National Conference's (NC) leader Omar Abdullah claimed the Governor S P Malik is mulling to change to the process of granting Permanent Resident Certificate in Jammu and Kashmir.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister was trying to fax a letter to Malik expressing the National Conference's (NC) concerns over reports of changes proposed to the procedure of granting permanent residence certificates in the state.

He shared the letter on Twitter.

"I'm trying to fax a letter to jandkgovernor but the fax machine still isn't working. The operator who answered the phone says the fax operator is on holiday as it's a Sunday. Will attempt again tomorrow in the meantime am forced to put the letter out through social media," Abdullah said in a tweet.

However, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kavinder Gupta had said the administration was contemplating to simplify the procedure for grant of PRCs and a timeline should be fixed for its issuance under the Public Services Guarantee Act, reported PTI news agency.

Lone, who had staked claim to form the government, took to Twitter to attack the purported move on the PRCs.

"The governor administration needs to restrict itself to basic governance. No structural changes pertaining to PRC or J K Bank are acceptable. Restrict your energies to what u r mandated to do- which incidentally u r not doing. Please don't invent new problems," he tweeted.

The Congress also said any changes in the procedure for granting PRCs in the state would be "unacceptable", and would have serious implications, according to PTI.

"This step will invent another problem in the state which has to be avoided in the larger interests of peace," a Congress spokesperson said.