The Ladakhi leadership has claimed a breakthrough in talks with the Centre, asserting the Union Territory has been offered constitutional safeguards on the lines of Article 371 as well as a legislative body, with possible statehood in the indeterminate future.
“In this model the legislative, executive and financial powers will rest with elected representatives through Union Territory level legislative body,” a joint statement by the Leh Apex Body and Kargil Development Alliance, which have for years spearheaded the campaign for special rights, said on Saturday. “All bureaucrats of the UT including the Chief Secretary will come under the executive head of the UT-level elected body (proposed to be Chief Minister).”
Activist Sonam Wangchuk, a mentor for Ladakhi rights campaigners who was not part of the latest round of talks, too, spoke of significant progress in talks with the Centre.
The purported assurances, however, fall short of the demand for special status under the Sixth Schedule, or statehood, but go a long way towards addressing the region’s concerns.
The Sixth Schedule applies mainly to certain tribal areas and provides for high levels of local autonomy. Article 371 and its sub-clauses A to J give special protections to various states, particularly for local social and religious practices.
It remains unclear how Ladakh might get Article 371-like safeguards without being a state, with the joint statement silent on the contours of the arrangement.
The Centre has not issued any formal statement.
The joint statement said the Leh Apex Body (LAP) and Kargil Development Alliance (KDA) had reached an “in-principle understanding” with the Centre about “restoring democracy in Ladakh” and “providing constitutional safeguards on the lines of 371A, F and G (as applied to Nagaland, Sikkim and Mizoram)”.
Leaders of the two bodies had met Union home ministry representatives in Delhi on Friday “to deliberate on the future administrative and political framework of Ladakh”.
The statement, shared by KDA leader Sajjad Kargili on X, said the home ministry had explained that the only reason Ladakh could not be granted statehood at the moment was that it did not generate enough revenue to meet expenditures such as employee salaries.
“However, this setup will lead towards full statehood when it meets the revenue criteria,” the statement said.
The two Ladakh bodies spoke of working out the finer details with the home ministry in consultation with legal and constitutional experts.
In a post on X, Wangchuk said: “MHA, Apex & KDA leaders of Ladakh had a broad consensus on restoring democracy with a tailor-made legislative body that will have executive, financial & law-making powers and have safeguards under Article 371 of the constitution.
“Elected leader of the legislative body will have overall control over the Chief Secretary and rest of bureaucracy. In due course Ladakh will be accorded full statehood when it has enough revenue of its own to support the operational expenses of salaries,pensions etc.”
The joint statement by Ladakhi representatives said they had at Friday’s meeting reiterated longstanding popular demands, including those for statehood and Sixth Schedule protections.