Leh: Ladakh’s five newly created districts are set to come under elected autonomous hill councils, marking a major expansion of grassroots governance across the Union Territory.
Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Thursday approved the notification for establishing Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) in all seven districts. The move will extend the council system beyond Leh and Kargil to Sham, Nubra, Zanskar, Drass and Changthang.
The Centre had earlier decided to extend the autonomous hill council framework to all seven districts. Until now, elected LAHDCs functioned only in Leh and Kargil.
The expansion is expected to give residents of the five new districts greater representation in local development planning and administrative decision making. The councils are designed to bring governance closer to communities and provide elected representatives with a stronger role in addressing local priorities.
However, election dates for the new councils have not yet been announced. The Ladakh administration said the elections will be conducted in due course after the required formal notification is issued under Section 8 of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997.
The latest notification will become effective once it is published in the Official Gazette.
Saxena described the development as a historic step for Ladakh, saying the expansion of the LAHDC system would strengthen local institutions and decentralise governance.
The development assumes added significance as Ladakh does not have a legislative assembly. With elected councils previously limited to Leh and Kargil, extending the system to all seven districts represents a significant change in the Union Territory’s local governance structure.
The next major steps will be the formal election notification, delimitation and other preparations before polling is conducted in the five new councils.
Sorry, there was a YouTube error.
