‘MHA should pursue matter with Finance Ministry’
Gear up recruitment process for smooth functioning
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Mar 12: Expressing serious concern over reduced budgetary allocation for the Union Territory of Ladakh during the Financial Year 2025-26, the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has said that prevailing situation will hamper ongoing works and schemes as such Ministry of Home Affairs should vigorously pursue matter with the Union Finance Ministry.
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Moreover, the Standing Committee has laid stress on gearing up recruitment process so as to ensure smooth and seamless functioning of the administration in the Union Territory as almost all the departments are presently facing shortage of officers and staff.
In its report, the Parliamentary Panel said, “fund allocations for the Union Territory of Ladakh has been reduced for the Financial Year 2025-26 to Rs 4692.15 crore (Net basis) as compared to allocation of Rs 5958 crore in the Financial Year 2024-25”.
“Since there is considerable reduction in the allocation for the financial year 2025-26 vis a vis 2024-25, the allocation is truly insufficient. Therefore, the allocation provided for FY 2025-26 will need to be utilized optimally. The UT may project additional requirement at the later stage or seek supplementary grants, if required”, the report said while recommending that Ministry of Home Affairs should pursue the additional fund requirement with the Ministry of Finance.
The Standing Committee has pointed out that out of the allocated amount of Rs 4692.15 crore for the Financial Year 2025-26, Rs 2450 crore is Revenue Component and Rs 2242.15 crore is Capital component.
Out of Rs 2450 crore under Revenue component, Rs 1771.51 crore will be utilized for salary, allowances and LTC and remaining will be utilized for other major revenue heads such as ORE, subsidies and professional services, fuels and lubricants, material and supplies and office expenses etc, which are essential to run the establishments of the UT of Ladakh. The allocation of Rs 2242.15 crore under Capital component will be utilized for already approved schemes where the works are being completed. Similarly, budget allocation under the Sub Head Power has been reduced from Rs 189.25 crore in 2024-25 to Rs 84.64 crore in 2025-26.
In the report, the Standing Committee has mentioned that after the formation of UT of Ladakh recruitment to 3172 posts have been done through various recruitment agencies like Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Autonomous Hill Development Subordinate Services Recruitment Board Leh and Kargil and Ladakh Police Board and the remaining vacant posts will be filled by Ladakh Subordinate Service Staff Selection Board.
“Recruitment Rules for 74 categories of Gazetted posts aggregating a total of 1142 posts have been framed and reservation in appointment for various posts in Union Territory of Ladakh is governed under the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Rules, 2005. The UT Administration has amended the J&K Reservation Rules, 2005 providing proportion of reservation to various categories”, the report said.
Noting that there are 1275 vacancies in Gazetted posts and 3596 vacancies in non-Gazetted posts in various departments of the UT of Ladakh, the Standing Committee said, “although steps have been taken by the UT administration to fill the vacant posts, the number of vacancies are huge in the UT and shortage of officers and staff can affect the smooth and seamless functioning of the administration”.
It has recommended that process of recruitment to fill the vacant posts must be speeded up so that the educated young generation of the UT should not be bereft of employment opportunities in the UT itself.
“The Union Territory of Ladakh has immense power potential in the solar and wind energy sector due to its high altitude and bright sky and dry weather condition. We appreciate that the UT administration has taken up various projects to harness the renewable resources of energy. However, we would like to be apprised about the percentage of power generated from the solar energy sector and initiatives taken by the UT administration to generate power from wind resource”, the Standing Committee said.
Moreover, the Standing Committee, while taking note of the steps taken by the UT administration for promoting employment opportunities for local youth in the region, recommended providing end to end support to the artisans and crafts persons through subsidized loans, tools and equipment for expanding and building their businesses through the PM Vishwakarma Scheme to give boost to self sustainable small scale entrepreneurship in the UT.
‘Ladakh is a high yielding Pashmina and wool grower region and it involved various crafts like weaving, spinning, dying, tailoring and knitting as such UT administration must ensure that enough financial as well as administrative and skill development support is provided to the local artisans and craftsmen for the preservation of the traditional craftsmanship of Ladakh and upliftment of artisans and weavers”, the report said.
Appreciating the efforts made by UT administration to augment the drinking water supply to the Leh and Kargil towns under 24×7 Water Supply Scheme and providing potable drinking water facility through Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) to the rural households, the Standing Committee has recommended that the Government may extend necessary funds and resources to cover the remaining rural areas as well, at the earliest, to make potable water available to all the households.
Further, it has recommended that the Ministry of Home Affairs along with UT administration of Ladakh must pursue with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) setting up of 11 MLD plant for which Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) have been submitted at an estimated cost of Rs 390.00 crore for Leh town.
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