Government discusses proposals to grant job quota to locals in Ladakh

NEW DELHI: Draft proposals for giving reservation to locals in jobs in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil and granting the status of official languages to Bhoti and others in the Union Territory came up for discussion before the Union Cabinet, sources said on Thursday.

The issues were discussed at the Union Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The draft proposals were prepared following discussions with leaders of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), which have been demanding statehood for Ladakh, inclusion of the Union Territory in the 6th Schedule of the Constitution and setting up of an exclusive public service commission for the region.

In the last meeting between the central government's representatives and leaders of LAB and the KDA in December 2024, there were intensive discussions on the proposals for reserving 95 per cent jobs for locals in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil, one-third quota for women in hill councils and according state language status to several native languages, including Bhoti.

However, sources said, it is immediately not known what final decision has been taken on the proposals and whether any legislation incorporating all the proposed provisions will be brought to give them legal status.

"80% jobs reserved for tribals from Leh, Ladakh regions"

If the proposals are approved, 80 per cent jobs would be reserved for tribals from Leh and Ladakh regions, four per cent for people living close to the Line of Actual Control, one per cent for Scheduled Castes and 10 per cent for the Economically Weaker Section categories, sources said. Scheduled Tribes constitute over 90 per cent of the population in Ladakh.

The LAB and KDA have been demanding statehood for Ladakh, inclusion of the Union Territory in the 6th Schedule of the Constitution and setting up of an exclusive public service commission for the region for quite some time. A government-appointed high-powered committee (HPC) for Ladakh headed by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai had held several rounds of talks with LAB and KDA to discuss their demands.

Ladakh was earlier part of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Assembly had four representatives from the region. The provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, were abrogated on August 5, 2019, and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into two Union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

According to the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, Jammu and Kashmir has been made a UT with a legislative assembly and Ladakh a UT without any assembly. The BJP-led Centre had assured a delegation from Ladakh in December 2023 that it was committed to fast-tracking the development of the UT and meeting the aspirations of the people in the region.

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"Organisations demanding separate UT"

The Ministry of Home Affairs has formed the HPC for Ladakh under Rai's chairmanship to discuss the measures needed to protect the region's unique culture and language, taking into consideration its geographical location and strategic importance.

The HPC has been given mandate to discuss ways for protection of land and employment, measures for inclusive development and employment generation in the region, measures related to the empowerment of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil and constitutional safeguards that could be provided.

Several organisations of Ladakh were demanding a separate UT for the region for decades and the demand was fulfilled on August 5, 2019. However, many people of Ladakh were not happy after losing the rights to elect their representatives to the legislative assembly.

In August 2024, the Centre created five new districts in the UT of Ladakh. The new districts were Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra and Changthang. Being a UT, Ladakh comes under the direct administrative control of the union home ministry.