*LAB, KDA to react after joint meeting
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 17: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has called a meeting of the High Powered Committee (HPC) on Ladakh in New Delhi on May 20 which will be chaired by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai.
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An order to this effect was issued by the MHA today and communicated to the stakeholders.
Leh Apex Body (LAB) co-chairman Chering Dorjay Lakruk confirmed receipt of the message and said he will be able to react on it after tomorrow’s joint meeting of the LAB with Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) scheduled to be held in Kargil district.
“We will react after the meeting,” Lakruk said.
He said notice of the meeting was issued today but it has been convened on May 20 i.e. after more than a month.
Notice of the meeting came just days after Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Brig (Retd) BD Mishra met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi and briefed him on issues in Ladakh.
There was unrest among members of LAB and KDA over delay in the meeting to be called by the Union Home Ministry. Last meeting of the MHA with LAB and KDA was held on January 15 and it was proposed that next meeting will be held on February 15. However, no meeting was held after January 15 though backchannel talks were held between MHA officials with representatives of LAB and KDA.
The LAB and KDA are agitating on four-point agenda including Statehood, Sixth Schedule status, dedicated PSC and two Parliamentary seats.
However, presently deadlock persisted on the issue of Government jobs with the MHA insisting on domicile certificates on the lines of Jammu and Kashmir i.e. a person living in Ladakh for 15 years will be treated as domicile while the LAB and KDA calling for fixing the deadline of 1989 i.e. the persons living in the UT since 1989 be declared as domiciles.
There were reports that the MHA is ready to relax the deadline from 15 years to 20 years but there has been no official statement so far on this.
On 95 percent reservations for locals, 80 percent will go to STs, 4 percent to Actual Line of Control (ALC), 10 per cent to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), one percent to SCs and five percent to others but they too will be domiciles of Ladakh. However, no such order has been issued so far despite a decision taken in the meeting earlier.
The non-gazetted recruitments in Ladakh UT were conducted on the basis of LRC (Ladakh Resident Certificate), which was replica of State Subject used in the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir of which Ladakh was third division besides Jammu and Kashmir.
However, there has been no headway on two other demands of LAB and KDA including grant of Statehood and Sixth Schedule status to Ladakh. The MHA has already briefed the Ladakh representatives that their another demand for two Parliamentary seats instead of one can be taken up only after delimitation, which is freezed since 2026, is resumed with setting up of the Commission.
Sources said the issue of dedicated PSC for Ladakh will be resolved once the issue of reservation and domicile is settled. The LAB and KDA were of the view that population of EWS is significantly low in Ladakh and 10 percent reservation in this category will be too much.
There were reports that either PSC of Jammu and Kashmir or UPSC will be dedicated as the agency for gazetted cadre recruitment in Ladakh pending dedicated PSC of the UT.
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