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Govt open to Ladakh’s statehood
New Delhi: The Centre agreed on Monday to discuss threadbare the demands for Ladakh’s statehood, the inclusion of the Union Territory in the 6th...
New Delhi: The Centre agreed on Monday to discuss threadbare the demands for Ladakh’s statehood, the inclusion of the Union Territory in the 6th Schedule of the Constitution and the setting up of an exclusive public service commission for the high-altitude region.
The agreement was arrived at a meeting held here between the High Powered Committee (HPC) for Ladakh headed by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai and a 14-member delegation of the Apex Body of Leh (ABL) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), representing various organisations of the Union Territory.
“The meeting decided to discuss threadbare our main demands: statehood for Ladakh, inclusion of Ladakh in the 6th Schedule of the Constitution and the constitution of the exclusive public service commission for Ladakh on February 24,” according to a joint press release issued by the ABL and KDA.
The two organisations from Ladakh also decided to call off “for the time being” their plan to go on a hunger strike from Tuesday “in view of this significant development”.
The meeting resolved to constitute a joint sub-committee for carrying forward the exercise to look into the details of the demands. “We have, accordingly, set up the sub-committee with the following members: Thupstan Chhewang, Chering Dorjay Lakrook and Nawang Rigzin Jora, representing the ABL, and Qamar Ali Akhoon, Asgar Ali Karbalai and Sajjad Kargili, representing the KDA,” the release said.
The two organisations conveyed the names of the sub-committee members to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla. “All members of the sub-committee are in Delhi and we look forward to fruitful discussions at the next meeting,” the release added. The other demands of the delegation include two Lok Sabha seats (one for Kargil and one for Leh) and job opportunities for the residents of the Union Territory, sources said. Ladakh currently has one Lok Sabha constituency. Ladakh, which no longer has any Assembly constituency, was earlier part of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
