JAMMU: The Union Territory Administration of Ladakh has forwarded proposal to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for creation of Ladakh Administrative Services comprising three Services—Administrative, Police and Forests.
Official sources said that posts in all three categories have been identified and combined proposal has been sent to the MHA where it is under examination. The posts can be increased or decreased by the MHA as they have to take various options into consideration.
Presently, there has been joint cadre of the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and many officers of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services (JKAS) and Jammu and Kashmir Police Services (JKPS) among others have been posted in Ladakh. Control of the cadre as per Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act lies with J&K and its administration has to send and recall the officers from the UT of Ladakh.
“As and when the proposal for Ladakh Administrative Services is cleared by the Union Home Ministry, the process for filling up of the posts will be taken up by the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) on recommendations by the administration,’’ the sources said.
A decision on filling up of the Ladakh Administrative Services posts by the UPSC has already been taken by the MHA in consultations with the UT administration and representatives of Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA).
Officials, however, declined to give timeline for formal clearance of the Ladakh Administrative Services on the ground that the proposal is lying with the MHA and they have to study it minutely before clearance. Number of the posts separately for civil, police and forest administration will also be known once the proposal is cleared by the Ministry, they said.
The UT Administration of Ladakh has already advertised vacancies for various other gazetted cadre posts after finalization of rules and percentage of reservation for different categories besides settling of the issue of domiciles.
Meanwhile, there has been no communication between the MHA or its representatives with LAB and KDA even after three-day-long strike by the twin bodies in Kargil few days back.
Sources told the Excelsior that the twin bodies have not received any invitation for talks from the MHA. Even there has been no informal contact with them by the Home Ministry representatives now, they said.
However, the LAB leaders have made it clear that they will not hold any protests in support of their demands till August 26 in view of the visit of Tibetan spiritual leader The Dalai Lama in Ladakh. They will decide future course of action only when The Dalai Lama returns from the Union Territory.
Last talks of the MHA with LAB and KDA representatives were held in New Delhi on May 27 at the High Powered Committee (HPC) meeting chaired by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai in which the issues of reservation and domiciles were settled.
It was decided that next meeting will be held within a month. However, even after a lapse of over two and half months, no meeting has been convened by the MHA either of the High Powered Committee or the Sub Committee. The HPC is headed by Nityanand Rai while the Sub Committee meeting is chaired by Joint Secretary in the MHA.
The LAB and KDA are now demanding Statehood, Sixth Schedule status and two Lok Sabha seats for Ladakh.
