The regulations regarding Ladakh notified by the Centre on Tuesday are significant for multiple reasons. One, it suggests a direction for addressing governance concerns in the Union territory (UT), a first since 2019, when Article 370 was abrogated and Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two UTs. Two, it provides partial redress to concerns that local communities raised, and highlighted in their 2023 protests, regarding safeguards for their unique regional identity, culture, and material resources. Three, a stable Ladakh with a robust governance structure and infrastructure is essential since the UT shares a restive border with China: Indian and Chinese troops clashed in the Galwan Valley in 2020 and the stand-off continued till October last year.
The new rules address matters related to domicile status and job quotas (85% reservation for Ladakhis excluding economically weaker section quota), which, hopefully, will assuage the fears about large-scale settlement of “outsiders” in this ecologically sensitive terrain. The rules concerning domicile status are similar to those in Jammu and Kashmir, though Ladakh has no elected legislature. This means regulations governing Ladakh are executive decisions made by the Centre — in this case in consultation with local representatives — and not the outcome of deliberations in an elected House. It would also mean that these regulations can be changed, withdrawn or amended through executive orders and without the approval of local stakeholders. Though such fears seem unwarranted, the Centre must have a conversation with the broader segment of Ladakhi voices if necessary, and ensure that the regulations, say for the protection of local languages, become enabling provisions. After all, the call in Ladakh has been for statehood and inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which provides legislative, executive, judicial and financial powers, and the current initiative falls short of that demand.