Arteev Sharma
Jammu: Amid ongoing deadlock between Ladakh leaders and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) over the former’s four-point agenda, the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brig (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd), met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi and reportedly discussed several key issues concerning the Union Territory.
While no official statement was issued about the meeting till late Monday night, sources in the Ladakh administration, however, indicated that a range of pressing matters likely came under discussion.
The major issues probably discussed in the meeting included the significant cut in annual budget and its implications on developmental activities in the region, creation of five new districts in the Union Territory, grant of 33 percent reservation to women in both Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil, the demand for fixation of Domicile eligibility year, concerns related to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), and the long-pending issue of recruitment for both gazetted and non-gazetted posts.
Sources also suggested that developmental initiatives currently underway in Ladakh, along with their timely execution and the need for sustained financial support from the Centre, were among the top agenda of the meeting. The Lieutenant Governor was supposedly sought for restoring the cut in annual budget to expedite the development activities in the region.
The meeting expectedly discussed the modalities for granting 33 percent reservation to women in LAHDC Kargil and Leh wherein under which eight or nine seats in 30-member Councils, on which the elections are held will be reserved for the women.
The meeting also holds significance against the backdrop of the stalled dialogue between leaders from Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) with the MHA, which has seen no progress since January 15. A follow-up meeting, initially proposed for February 15, did not materialize, with the MHA reportedly opting for backchannel talks to evolve a consensus on contentious issues prior to making any announcements.
Two bodies—LAB and KDA have called for a joint meeting on April 20 to chalk out their future strategy if the Centre fails to extend an invitation for talks.
It is expected that Ladakh’s leadership may consider resuming protests if the Centre does not urgently address their concerns—particularly the rising unemployment in the region and the UT administration’s failure to initiate gazetted cadre recruitment, which has remained non-start since the abrogation of Article 370 and the creation of Ladakh as a separate Union Territory.
The leaders of Ladakh have called for age relaxation in future recruitments to compensate for the prolonged delay, a demand that the UT administration is reportedly considering.
The KDA leader Sajjad Kargili has called for the need to set 1989 as the cut-off year for issuing domicile certificates in Ladakh to safeguard local interests and expedite the recruitment process.
“LAB and KDA have clearly stated that 1989 should be the reference year for domicile eligibility. The people of Ladakh are highly sensitive to the issue,” Kargili had said while warning of the consequences of a lenient domicile policy.
Citing the example of Jammu and Kashmir, where over 83,000 non-locals received domicile certificates, he said such a trend could prove “dangerous” for a sparsely populated region like Ladakh. “It will open the floodgates for individuals across India to claim domicile in Ladakh. This is an alarming situation for us. That’s why our collective stand is to fix 1989 as the cut-off year,” he asserted.
Pertinently, various groups of Ladakh have also voiced their concerns over the decision of the Union Government to reduce the overall Central grants to the Union Territory by Rs 1266 crore in the annual budget for financial year 2025-26, prompting both Chairpersons of the Leh and Kargil Hill Development councils to take up issue with Central representatives and the UT administration.
The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) of Leh and Kargil each faced a reduction of Rs 72 crore, bringing their budgets down from Rs 344 crore in 2024–25 to Rs 272 crore.
