SRINAGAR:In a major breakthrough, the leaders of Ladakh and Ministry of Home Affairs have reached an in-principle understanding on providing constitutional safeguards on the lines of Article 371 A, F, and G to the Ladakh Union Territory as applied to Nagaland, Sikkim and Mizoram.
It is a major win for the Ladakh leaders, who since abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of erstwhile J&K state into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019, had been agitating to demand constitutional safeguards (Schedule 6th) and democracy (statehood) for the region.
The sub-committee level talks between the MHA officials and leaders of Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) and Leh Apex Body (LAB), which is an amalgam of political, religious, social, trade and student groups of Kargil and Leh district and spearheading for grant of 6th Schedule and statehood to Ladakh UT, was held in New Delhi today. The Ladakh MP Haji Haneefa Jan was also present during the talks.
The talks were held to deliberate on important issues concerning the future of LAdakh including constitutional safeguards, democratic representation and aspirations of people of the region.
“During the sub-committee level talks, LAD and KDA leaders reached an in-principle understanding with the Government of India on restoring democracy in Ladakh and providing constitutional safeguards on the lines of Article 371 A, F, and G to Ladakh as applied to Nagaland, Sikkim and Mizoram,” said a joint statement issued by KDA and LAB after the meeting.
The statement stated that during the meeting, both LAB and KDA reiterated long-standing aspirations of the people of Ladakh regarding restoration of democracy, constitutional safeguards, and the demand for Statehood and Sixth Schedule protections reflecting the shared commitment of all stakeholders towards an inclusive and sustainable governance framework for the region.
Following detailed and constructive deliberations, both sides have arrived at an in-principle understanding on several critical points on Article 371.
“In this Article 371 model, the legislative, executive and financial powers will rest with elected representatives through a Union Territory level legislative body. All bureaucrats of UT including the Chief Secretary will come under the executive head of the UT level elected body (proposed to be Chief Minister),” the joint statement said.
According to the joint statement, MHA officials explained that the only reason why Ladakh cannot be made a state at the moment is that it currently lacks adequate revenue generation to meet the revenue expenditures like salaries of employees.
However, the new setup will lead Ladakh towards full statehood as when it meets the revenue criteria, it said.
The KDA co chairman and LAB co chairman stated that they look forward to closely working out finer operational details with the MHA in consultation with legal and constitutional experts.
