The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has formally scheduled the next meeting of the High Powered Committee (HPC) on Ladakh for May 20 in New Delhi. The meeting will be chaired by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai.
An official order was issued by the MHA and communicated to all stakeholders, including members of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA).
Reacting to the development, LAB Co-chairman Chering Dorjay Lakruk acknowledged receiving the notice and stated that a joint response will be provided following tomorrow’s LAB-KDA meeting in Kargil district.
“We will react after the meeting,” Lakruk said, noting that although the notice was issued today, the meeting is scheduled over a month later.
This announcement follows Lt. Governor of Ladakh, Brig (Retd) BD Mishra’s recent meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during which he updated him on pressing issues in the Union Territory.
⏳ Delay Sparks Unrest
The announcement comes amid rising frustration among LAB and KDA members over the prolonged delay in the follow-up to the January 15 meeting. A meeting was tentatively planned for February 15, but never materialized, though backchannel discussions reportedly continued between MHA officials and Ladakh representatives.
LAB and KDA are pursuing a four-point agenda:
- Grant of Statehood to Ladakh
- Inclusion under the Sixth Schedule
- Creation of a dedicated Public Service Commission (PSC)
- Two Parliamentary seats instead of the current one
🚨 Domicile Dispute
A significant point of contention remains over domicile criteria for government jobs. The MHA has proposed a 15-year residency requirement, aligning with the Jammu and Kashmir model. However, LAB and KDA have been firm on fixing 1989 as the cutoff year for domicile eligibility.
Reports indicate the MHA may consider extending the requirement to 20 years, though no official confirmation has been made.
💼 Reservation Formula Still Unclear
Another issue yet to be finalized is the reservation framework. While earlier discussions agreed to reserve 95% of government jobs for locals, the breakdown is as follows:
- 80% for Scheduled Tribes (STs)
- 10% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)
- 4% for Actual Line of Control (ALC)
- 1% for Scheduled Castes (SCs)
- 5% for other Ladakh domiciles
Despite this agreement, no formal order has been issued yet.
Currently, non-gazetted recruitments in the UT are being conducted through the Ladakh Resident Certificate (LRC), modeled after the old State Subject system of Jammu and Kashmir.
🔍 Other Key Demands
There has been little progress on:
- Statehood demand
- Sixth Schedule inclusion
- Two Lok Sabha seats (stalled until the 2026 Delimitation freeze ends)
Sources suggest that the demand for a dedicated PSC will only be addressed once domicile and reservation matters are finalized. In the interim, the recruitment process for gazetted posts may be handled either by the UPSC or the Jammu and Kashmir PSC.
Representatives of LAB and KDA argue that EWS population in Ladakh is minimal, and a 10% reservation may be disproportionate.
