PRCs irrelevant, yet applicants throng DC’s office

Vikram Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 21

After the abrogation of Article 370, the permanent resident certificate (PRC) has also turned irrelevant, yet people in Jammu are thronging the Deputy Commissioner’s office to get the state subject documents for their children.

Tehsildar, Jammu, Vijay Shankar, while talking to The Tribune, said immediately after the abrogation of the Article, the DC office had stopped issuing the certificates.

He, however, added that many people still kept thronging the office daily while officials returned them apprising of the non-requirement of the PRC in the present situation.

“We have even made a cell within the premises to guide people about the irrelevance of the PRC, but many still come. The rush will end slowly as people get fully aware of the UT status of the state without Article 370,” Shankar said.

An official in the DC office said since people were being educated about the non-relevance of the PRC after abrogation of Article 370, many did not understand and kept pressing for submission of documents.

“Many express dilemma over the status of the state and keep telling us to submit their forms as they feel uncertainty. We are not accepting any forms for PRC and many return angry cursing the office and officials in the department,” he said.

Noor Mohammad, 72, a resident of Poonch who wanted his grandchildren’s PRC made, said since he had witnessed great upheavals in the state, he did not believe that PRC had been left irrelevant after the Article’s abrogation.

Santosh Singh, another applicant, put up a rationale for seeking the PRC despite abrogation yet his application was not accepted.

“What if under the UT status, a domicile certificate is needed to defend our land and identity? Which certificate we will have to present at that time? Either the government should come up with an order on the issue or let PRCs be made,” he said.

Many still in dilemma 

• An official in the DC office said since people were being educated about the non-relevance of the PRC after abrogation of Article 370, many did not understand and kept pressing for submission of documents.
• "Many express dilemma over the status of the state and keep telling us to submit their forms as they feel uncertainty," he said.