In an important step forward, the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) have agreed that anyone living in Ladakh for 15 years from 2019 onwards can be considered a domicile of the region.
This is a change from their earlier demand for a 30-year requirement.
The decision came during a three-hour meeting of the High-Powered Committee (HPC) in New Delhi, chaired by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai.
LAB and KDA leaders said the meeting was a big step in solving Ladakh’s unemployment problem.
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According to the agreement, all non-gazetted government jobs will be reserved for locals who hold a Ladakh Resident Certificate (LRC). This certificate works like the old “State Subject” rule used in the former Jammu and Kashmir.
For gazetted jobs, 85 per cent of the posts will go to local people from the general category, 10 per cent to locals from the Economically Weaker Sections, and only 5 per cent will be open to others from outside Ladakh.
Leaders from LAB and KDA—Thupstan Chhewang, Chering Dorjay Lakruk, Nawang Rigzin Jora and Asgar Ali Karbalaie—said they are hopeful about starting Ladakh Administrative Services (LAS) and Ladakh Police Services (LPS), similar to JKAS and JKPS.
Lakruk, who is also president of the Ladakh Buddhist Association, told THE WEEK that the MHA has agreed to give Ladakhi the status of a state language. This will include Bhoti for Leh and Kargil, and Urdu for Kargil.
He said that 33 per cent of seats in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils in Leh and Kargil will be reserved for women.
The next formal meeting will be held in a month. Lakruk said they are also meeting Home Minister Amit Shah informally today, with no fixed agenda.
Core political issues like Statehood and Sixth Schedule status were not discussed this time, as the focus was on addressing unemployment. Talks on these demands are expected later.
Ladakh became a Union Territory on August 5, 2019. Since then, no gazetted jobs have been filled due to a lack of recruitment rules.
Talks between Ladakhi leaders and the MHA had earlier broken down, but resumed after a fast by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk last October.
