NEW DELHI: The high-powered committee (HPC) of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) headed by Minister of State (MoS) for Home Nityanand Rai on Monday met a delegation from Ladakh here and deliberated over their demands, sources privy to the development said.
They said the demands included statehood to the Union Territory (UT), increasing Lok Sabha seats from one to two (one for Leh and one for Kargil) and bringing the high-altitude region under the sixth schedule of the Constitution to accord special status on par with the north eastern states.
“The 14-member delegation from Ladakh consisted of representatives of the Apex Body Leh (ABL) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), who placed their demands before the Rai-led panel,” said a source, without giving details about what transpired between the two sides.
Since the government re-organised Jammu & Kashmir into two UTs in 2019, Ladakh has no assembly of its own. Before the re-organisation decision, Ladakh had four members representing it the assembly of the erstwhile state of J&K.
The provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave a special status to J&K, were done away with on August 5, 2019 and the state was reorganized into two UTs - Jammu and Kashmir (with assembly) and Ladakh (without assembly).
Meanwhile, the HPC had assured the delegation from Ladakh in December last year that the Centre was committed to fast-tracking development projects in the UT and making all possible efforts to meet the aspirations of the people of the region.
The MHA has formed the HPC for Ladakh under Rai’s chairmanship with a mandate to discuss the measures needed to be taken to protect the region’s unique culture and language, taking into consideration its geographical location and strategic importance.
The HPC has also been formed for the 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 (LAHDCs) of Leh and Kargil and constitutional safeguards that could be provided to ensure the measures and protection as mentioned above.
The KDA and the ABL have in the recent past protested at different places, including New Delhi, Jammu and Ladakh to press for their four demands.