Protestors demanding statehood and the Sixth Schedule for Ladakh set a BJP office on fire, and police fired teargas shells to disperse them on Wednesday (September 24). This triggered a massive shutdown sponsored by the Leh Apex Body (LAB) in Ladakh’s Leh town. Four were killed and 30 others were injured in intense clashes between protesters and security personnel.
What is the Sixth Schedule?
The Sixth Schedule under Article 244 provides for the formation of autonomous administrative divisions — Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) — that have some legislative, judicial, and administrative autonomy within a state.
ADCs have up to 30 members with a term of five years, and can make laws, rules and regulations with regard to land, forest, water, agriculture, village councils, health, sanitation, village- and town-level policing, inheritance, marriage and divorce, social customs and mining, etc. The Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam is an exception with more than 40 members and the right to make laws on 39 issues.
The Sixth Schedule applies to the Northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram (three Councils each), and Tripura (one Council).
Why does Ladakh want to be part of the Sixth Schedule?
There was much enthusiasm initially, mostly in Leh, after the August 5, 2019 decisions that created two new Union Territories. The Buddhist-dominated Leh district had long demanded UT status because it felt neglected by the erstwhile state government, which was dominated by politicians from Kashmir and Jammu.
In Parliament, Namgyal had said, “Under Kashmir, our development, our political aspiration, our identity, our language – if all of this got lost it is because of Article 370…” Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “given an address on the political aspirations, developmental spirit and even recognized the contribution of the people from the region of Ladakh”, he said.
The enthusiasm waned as it was understood that while the UT of J&K would have a legislature, the UT of Ladakh would not. There had been four MLAs from the region in the erstwhile J&K Assembly; the administration of the region is now completely in the hands of bureaucrats. To many in Ladakh, the government now looks even more distant than Srinagar. Also, the changed domicile policy in J&K has raised fears in the region about its own land, employment, demography, and cultural identity.
The UT has two Hill councils in Leh and Kargil, but neither is under the Sixth Schedule. Their powers are limited to collection of some local taxes such as parking fees and allotment and use of land vested by the Centre.
Can Ladakh be included in Sixth Schedule?
In September 2019, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes recommended the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, noting that the new UT was predominantly tribal (more than 97%), people from other parts of the country had been restricted from purchasing or acquiring land there, and its distinct cultural heritage needed preservation.
Notably, no region outside the Northeast has been included in the Sixth Schedule. In fact, even in Manipur, which has predominantly tribal populations in some places, the autonomous councils are not included in the Sixth Schedule. Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, which are totally tribal, are also not in the Sixth Schedule.
“Ladakh’s inclusion in the Sixth Schedule would be difficult. The Constitution is very clear, Sixth Schedule is for the Northeast. For tribal areas in the rest of the country, there is the Fifth Schedule,” a Home Ministry official said.
However, it remains the prerogative of the government — it can, if it so decides, bring a Bill to amend the Constitution for this purpose.
People staged a massive protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh on September 24. (ANI Video Grab)
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