Centre Seeks Ladakh Representatives' Input on Shape of Proposed UT-Level Body

The Union Home Ministry has asked Ladakh representatives to work out the details of a proposed Union Territory-level governance body, in the latest round of consultations on the region's administrative future.

At a meeting on September 9, officials from the ministry put a set of questions to the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) and the Apex Body Leh (ABL), seeking their views on seven key issues. The two groups have been negotiating with the Centre over governance, land rights and constitutional protections for Ladakh.

The questionnaire asks the representatives to decide on a formal name for the proposed UT-level legislative body and its executive wing, their composition and representation, and how they would relate to the existing Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs).

The ministry has also asked the two groups to consult each other on which functions should necessarily be exercised at the UT level, in the interest of uniformity, coordinated development and effective administration, and which should remain with district-level bodies to protect local interests.

Further, it has sought clarity on the principles that would guide the division of powers between the proposed UT-level body and the LAHDCs. Members of the sub-committee have been asked to specify the subjects that should fall within the law-making and policy-making domain of the UT-level elected body, in keeping with the basic structure of the Constitution. The ministry noted that setting up such a unique model for Ladakh would require legal opinion.

The consultations follow the Centre's offer to add a constitutional provision, Article 371(K), and to create a governance arrangement that would give Ladakh neither statehood nor the status of a Union Territory with a legislature. Instead, the proposed model would rest on a special constitutional amendment requiring Parliament's approval.

After the meeting, Ladakh Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra said the discussions were aimed at taking forward the process of securing appropriate constitutional and legislative safeguards for Ladakh relating to its land, culture, heritage, natural resources, environment, employment and other concerns. He said the leaders present were asked to prepare a draft document examining the structural relationship and distribution of powers between the LAHDCs and the proposed UT-level body, as per their requirements.

Kundra emphasised that the constitutional changes needed to bring such a system into being would require political consensus and a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

Last month, the KDA and ABL submitted a list of "non-negotiables" to the Home Ministry, including a demand for a UT-level elected legislature that is directly elected and constitutionally empowered. Since the agitation for greater democratic control over Ladakh took hold, representatives have pushed a four-point agenda: statehood for Ladakh, safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, reservation of jobs for the region's youth, and separate parliamentary constituencies for its two parts. This agenda has driven protests over the past three years.

On Thursday, however, the Ladakh administration ruled out statehood or the provision of a legislature, stating that the proposed "sui generis" arrangement under Article 371 is "more" than the protections offered under the Sixth Schedule.