Ladakh to set up autonomous hill development councils for all 7 districts

He said that a team from the Centre had recently visited Ladakh, following which a consensus emerged that a Union Territory-level body would be created under Article 371 of the Constitution and “a new and customised model under Article 371 would be created for Ladakh with the best provisions from other states applicable to Ladakh”.

The proposed body would exercise legislative, executive, financial and administrative powers. The framework for this is currently under review, the chief secretary said, adding that “2026 will be a watershed year in Ladakh’s history”.

Section 3(1) of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Act provides for the constitution of a council in each district by government notification. “Therefore, the administration has decided to extend this to all of the new districts,” Kundra said.

Even as part of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir, the LAHDCs have served as key governance units in Ladakh, empowered to make decisions on land and employment in the region. These remain key concerns even now. Elections to these councils have also been keenly fought.