NEW DELHI: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has invited the sub-committees of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) for another round of talks to discuss their demands on March 4, officials said on Thursday.
The two sub-committees were constituted with the three members from both the LAB and the KDA during a meeting on February 19 between the MHA’s high-powered panel headed by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai and a joint team of representatives from Ladakh.
Then again on February 24, another round of talks were held, during which they deliberated on the three main agendas of the four-point demands, including statehood for Ladakh, inclusion of the region under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, and the Public Service Commission (PSC) for the Union Territory.
During the last meeting, the MHA panel had assured the sub-committees of a prompt notification for the establishment of the Public Service Commission for Ladakh.
On the issue of the other two demands, the MHA had suggested roping in constitutional experts for their input and further deliberations.
On the fourth demand relating to having two seats in Lok Sabha from Ladakh—one each from Leh and Kargil—sources said the MHA panel had deferred it for a future date, as the Parliamentary elections are going to be held in the next two months.
Ladakh currently has one Lok Sabha seat.
Ladakh, which no longer has any assembly constituency, was earlier part of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. It had four representatives in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
The provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, were abrogated on August 5, 2019, and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
According to the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, Jammu and Kashmir has been made a Union Territory with a legislative assembly and Ladakh a Union Territory without an assembly.