Kashmir Impulse Desk
Leh, Sep 10
Ladakh is advancing a series of administrative and governance reforms alongside negotiations with the Centre on constitutional safeguards for the Union Territory, Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra said on Thursday.
Addressing a news conference in Leh, Kundra said discussions were continuing on land, employment, culture, natural resources and local governance, while recruitment and institutional reforms were also being accelerated.
He said representatives of the Apex Body Leh and Kargil Democratic Alliance had met Ministry of Home Affairs officials in New Delhi to discuss the proposed structure of a UT-level elected body under an Article 371 framework.
Participants agreed that members of the proposed body should be directly elected from constituencies, Kundra said. Ladakh representatives were asked to prepare a draft examining the division of powers between the proposed body and the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils.
A further round of talks is expected in October.
Kundra said the constitutional process would require consultation, political consensus and parliamentary consideration and that no arrangement would be imposed without consultation with stakeholders.
On recruitment, he said the Centre had issued an enabling notification covering 79 posts across 15 departments, allowing recruitment under the Ladakh Reservation Rules, 2025.
Draft recruitment rules have been prepared and will be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor before being sent to the Union Public Service Commission.
The posts include Assistant Directors, Under Secretaries, Deputy Registrars, Excise and Taxation Officers, Block Development Officers and Tehsildars.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has also approved the creation of the Ladakh Administrative Service and Ladakh Police Service.
Kundra said recommendations had been received for 1,340 categories or posts, while 1,504 posts had been advertised and 716 vacancies filled through promotions. Recruitment to 125 Medical Officer posts is also being expedited.
On land reforms, he said proposed Nautor rules would not involve monetisation of land but would address tenancy and conversion of eligible tenancy rights into ownership, subject to applicable rules.
He said final rules had not been notified and stakeholder suggestions would be considered.
Kundra also said a formal notification had already been issued for a High Court bench to sit in Leh, which he said would improve access to justice.
Elections to the seven newly notified LAHDCs will follow delimitation and preparation of electoral rolls under the applicable statutory process.
He described the proposed constitutional arrangement for Ladakh as a distinct model rather than a conventional state structure, with the broader objective of protecting land, jobs, culture and the environment while strengthening local governance.
