JAMMU: The Union Territory of Ladakh has proposed 194 cadre strength for Administrative Services and 54 for Police Services and submitted comprehensive proposal to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for clearance and taking decision on whether the cadre will be part of DANICS/DANIPS like five other Union Territories or will have independent cadre like Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry.
Official sources said that existing strength of Administrative Services in Ladakh is 173 which has been raised to 194 while present strength of Police Services is 26 which has been increased to 54 by the UT Administration while forwarding proposal of Cadre strength to the MHA.
“The ball is now in the MHA’s Court. They have to finalize the Cadre strength and decide whether Ladakh will have separate cadre (Ladakh Administrative Services/ Ladakh Police Services) like Jammu and Kashmir or will be part of DANICS and DANIPS like five other UTs in the country,” the sources said.
Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry are presently the only UTs which have their own cadre while all other UTs are part of Delhi-Andaman and Nicobar Island Civil Service (DANICS)/Delhi-Andaman and Nicobar Island Police Service (DANIPS).
Initially, there were indications that Ladakh UT may be part of DANICS/DANIPS but this has been opposed by some of the local bodies including Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) who want LAS/LPS at par with JKAS/JKPS with recruitment on the basis of Ladakh Reservation Rules.
The DANICS/DANIPS are governed by the Central Reservation Rules while recruitment for local cadre services is held as per local Reservation Rules. Ladakh has 85 percent reservation for locals. However, if the Cadre Service posts are filled as per DANICS/DANIPS, the UT will have less reservation for locals.
This, as per the sources, is also one of the reasons for delay in finalization of Cadre strength by the MHA as they also have to take a decision simultaneously on whether Ladakh will be part of DANICS/DANIPS or will have local cadre like the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
However, as far as the Financial Services are concerned, their Rules have already been framed by the UT administration of Ladakh and these posts will be filled through the departmental promotions.
Presently, a number of JKAS and JKPS officers are posted on deputation in the Union Territory of Ladakh. The officers on deputation are rotated after two or three years. Besides JKAS and JKPS officers, several other officers have also been posted in Ladakh from the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, once part of erstwhile State of J&K, were divided into two UTs on August 5, 2019 by the Central Government while scrapping special status of JK.
As per understanding reached between MHA and twin Ladakh bodies-LAB and KDA, 80 percent posts would be reserved for Scheduled Tribes, four percent for residents living near ALC/LoC and one percent for Scheduled Castes. Reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections continues to be 10 per cent.
Section 5 of Jammu & Kashmir Reservation Act shall not apply to Economically Weaker Sections and filling up of vacancies for such sections shall be in such manner as may be prescribed. Section 5 in J&K Reservation Act deals with filling vacancies in reserved categories during recruitment.
According to the provision applicable to J&K, if a sufficient number of candidates are not available from any reserved category during a recruitment process, the posts shall remain vacant and shall be carried forward to the next recruitment process.
Last round of LAB-KDA talks with the MHA was held on October 22 in New Delhi. The twin bodies had later submitted a comprehensive document to the Union Home Ministry on their demands for Statehood and Sixth Schedule status to Ladakh besides some other demands.
