KATHMANDU: Nepali speaking communities in India-administered Jammu and Kashmir are delighted to obtain domicile certificates granting them the most of the rights the natives of the place exercise.

According to Indian media reports, people meeting the criteria in the domicile rules issued by the Indian government in March will be regarded eligible to apply for the domicile certificate.

As per the new domicile rules, which made it possible for Gorkhas and others living in the region get more rights now, non-locals who have lived in Jammu & Kashmir for 15 years, their children, officers with central government and central institutions and anyone who has studied in Jammu & Kashmir for seven years and appeared in the class X or XII exams are eligible to apply for the domicile certificates.

The Gorkha community living in the region has welcomed the news as something long awaited and pleasant. “My father Harak Singh had served in Indian army of the ten ruler Maharaja Hari Singh, I retired as Hawaldar in Gorkha Rifles,” The Times of India (TOI) quoted Prem Bahadur, 68, as saying.

“Every year since we left the Army, we would apply for Permanent Resident Certificates required for jobs, admissions and property ownership,” the paper further quoted him.

He is now delighted that his MBA son can apply for a government job. The Gurkhas in Jammu and Kashmir regard it as a recognition of their lifetime service to protect India.

The Gorkhas are said to have been in the region since Bal Bhadra Kunwar’s time, i.e. for more than one and half century, according to TOI.

The rules have come into effect since March 18. Many Gorkha families and the inhabitants of other provinces of India are also applying online and in person for domicile certificates, the daily reported.

The Gorkhas along with many Indians had applauded the Indian government’s move of August 5, 2019 that ended the special prerogative granted to Jammu & Kashmir, according to TOI.

The government then had proclaimed Jammu and Kashmir as to states run under the central government.

(With inputs from Times of India)