Ladakh: Measures Announced by Centre do Not Address all Concerns
Asia News Agency
The measures notified by the Centre on June 3, 2025 seek to address the several concerns that have been raised by the people of Ladakh regarding their language, culture and land. These issues came to the fore after the special status of the former State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), under Article 370, was withdrawn in 2019 and it was bifurcated into Union Territories (UT).
Reservations and domicile
New policies on reservation, languages, domicile and composition of hill councils for the UT of Ladakh include a provision for up to 85% reservation for indigenous people in government jobs. Several States in the Northeast have reservation above 80% for indigenous people in various sectors — for instance, Mizoram has 92%, and Arunachal Pradesh has 80% in jobs. To be counted as a domicile of Ladakh, a person must have a continuous 15-year stay from 2019 in Ladakh. This means that migrants in Ladakh, after it lost its special status in 2019, will be considered for domicile only after 2034. The comparable provision in the UT of J&K considers anyone who has completed 15 years as a registered migrant eligible for domicile.
Measures fall short of the demands
These measures, writes The Hindu “fall short of the demands that civil society organisations in Ladakh have been raising. They want full Statehood, inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution which provides for special protection for tribespeople in several parts of the country, a second seat in the Lok Sabha and the constitution of a public service commission.” Significantly, the “lack of jobs and employment opportunities for the youth were at the heart of protests witnessed by the Union Territory in the past five years….”
Ladakh is strategically located at the junction of India, Pakistan and China, where both neighbours have border disputes with India. The Hindu notes “recent developments have demonstrated that both these countries often act in tandem. It is imperative that New Delhi pays close attention to the sentiments of the region."
Significant for multiple reasons
The regulations regarding Ladakh however, according to The Hindustan Times “are significant for multiple reasons. One, it suggests a direction for addressing governance concerns in the Union territory (UT), a first since 2019, when Article 370 was abrogated and Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two UTs. Two, it provides partial redress to concerns that local communities raised, and highlighted in their 2023 protests, regarding safeguards for their unique regional identity, culture, and material resources. Three, a stable Ladakh with a robust governance structure and infrastructure is essential since the UT shares a restive border with China….”
The paper hopes that the new rules related to domicile status and job quotas “hopefully, will assuage the fears about large-scale settlement of ‘outsiders’ in this ecologically sensitive terrain. The rules concerning domicile status are similar to those in Jammu and Kashmir, though Ladakh has no elected legislature. This means regulations governing Ladakh are executive decisions made by the Centre — in this case in consultation with local representatives — and not the outcome of deliberations in an elected House. It would also mean that these regulations can be changed, withdrawn or amended through executive orders and without the approval of local stakeholders.”
