Ladakh lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Friday approved the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Nautor Regularisation) Rules, 2026, paving the way for proprietary rights over eligible barren land and resolving a long-pending issue affecting thousands of landholders in the Union territory.
Nautor land refers to government-owned barren land or wasteland that was earlier allotted to individuals for cultivation or other productive use.
The rules provide a framework for granting proprietary rights/ownership of up to 10 acres of eligible Nautor land to the occupants across all seven districts of Ladakh.
For Nautor land exceeding the 10-acre limit, the proprietary rights may be granted on a leasehold basis in accordance with the rules. The rules offer a one-time regularisation mechanism for Nautor land occupied before on October 27, 2020, when the J&K Tenancy Act, 1980, was repealed.
Possession of Nautor land after this cut-off date will be ineligible for regularisation. More than 60,000 acres of land in Ladakh is currently recorded in revenue records as Nautor holdings.
Till now, the absence of a clear and uniform legal framework has restricted the effective utilisation of Nautor land. In particular, landholders with limited or non-proprietary rights were unable to use the land as a financial asset to secure loans against it.
{{/usCountry}}Till now, the absence of a clear and uniform legal framework has restricted the effective utilisation of Nautor land. In particular, landholders with limited or non-proprietary rights were unable to use the land as a financial asset to secure loans against it.
{{/usCountry}}The absence of uniform rules also created a threat of claims and disputes over government and council land.
According to the rules, the authority to allot Nautor land is now vested in LAHDCs in all seven districts. “Under Section 42 of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997, land within the district stands transferred to the Council, while clause (I) of Section 23 vests executive powers in the Council in relation to the allotment, use and occupation of land vested in it,” the rules read.
Saxena said the rules provide legal certainty to genuine Nautor landholders, bring in transparency and accountability to the regularisation process and establish uniform procedures across the Union Territory. At the same time, the rules would safeguard the land vested in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) from encroachment and unauthorised claims, he said.
Stipend for handloom & handicrafts trainees hiked
Saxena also enhanced the daily stipend for trainees enrolled in the handloom and handicrafts centres across Ladakh to ₹150 per day, from ₹40 earlier, a hike of nearly 275%.
The raise is aimed at providing greater financial support to trainees, making traditional craft training more attractive and encouraging local men and women to take up handloom and handicrafts as viable and sustainable livelihood opportunities.
The LG had visited a training centre at Hanley in Changthang district on June 1, where the issue of low stipend was brought to his attention.
Nearly 1000 trainee artisans are currently enrolled in the training centres in Leh and Kargil. These are undergoing training in carpet making, Pabu shoe making, knitting, weaving, tailoring, wood carving and other crafts.