Home Minister Amit Shah announces creation of 5 new districts in Ladakh

Shah said the Modi government is committed to creating abundant opportunities for the people of Ladakh.

“Ladakh is a very large Union Territory in terms of area. At present, Ladakh has two districts; Leh and Kargil. It is one of the least populated areas of India. Being extremely difficult and inaccessible, at present the district administration was facing many difficulties in reaching the grassroots level. After the formation of these districts, now all the public welfare schemes of the Central government and Ladakh administration will be able to reach the people easily and more and more people will be able to take advantage of them. This important decision of MHA will prove to be very useful in the all-round development of Ladakh,” an MHA spokesperson said in a statement.

Locations of the district headquarters in Ladakh.

Along with giving “in-principle approval” for the formation of five new districts, according to the spokesperson, the MHA has asked the Ladakh administration to form a committee to assess various aspects related to the formation of new districts, such as headquarters, boundaries, structure, creation of posts, and any other aspect related to the formation of districts. The Union Home ministry has asked the Ladakh administration to submit its report within three months.

“After receiving the report of the committee, Ladakh will send the final proposal regarding the creation of new districts on the basis of this report to the Union Home Ministry for further action,” the spokesperson said.

An MHA official said the Ladakh region was left behind in the race for development due to the difference in social fabric and the so-called discrimination of the state governments. Ladakh was made a UT after the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two UTs on August 5, 2019. The other UT is Jammu and Kashmir.

“On that day five years ago, the Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state, was also abrogated. After the removal of Article 370 in 2019, Ladakh got the status of UT and it comes under the direct administrative control of the Union Home ministry,” the official said.

PM Modi hailed the creation of five new districts in Ladakh as a step towards better governance and prosperity. He remarked that the new districts will now receive more focused attention, bringing services and opportunities closer to the people.

Sharing a post on X, Modi said, “Creation of five new districts in Ladakh is a step towards better governance and prosperity. Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra, and Changthang will now receive more focused attention, bringing service.”

An MHA official said with the cooperation of the Centre, now Ladakh is independently paving the way for its development. “PM Modi had announced a developmental package; Prime Minister Development Package (PMDP), consisting of 63 projects with a total cost of Rs 80,068 crore for the overall development of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir. Out of these 63 projects, 9 projects with a total cost of Rs 21,441 crores are exclusively for Ladakh. Out of these nine projects, one being replaced with another project if possible before dropping, two projects have been completed and the remaining six are in various stages of implementation,” the official said.

“To ensure the all-round development of Ladakh, the budget allocation has been increased significantly to Rs 5,958 crore per year in 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24. Also, with the Sindhu Infrastructure Development Corporation (SIDCO) set up, with an equity capital of Rs 25 crore, the corporation will promote infrastructure and industrial development,” the official added.

The move to create new districts was welcomed in Ladakh but with a reiteration of the demand for greater political representation. “The creation of new districts can be truly beneficial if it is accompanied by the establishment of an Assembly and subsequent democratic processes. Without this, Ladakh faces a risk of more bureaucratic layers rather than enhancing democratic governance,” social activist Sajjad Kargili said.

Kargili also emphasised the need of the newly announced districts being fully functional with all powers and said creation of districts that merely resemble sub-division of the past will render them ineffective.

On the other hand, Former BJP MP from Ladakh, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal called the move a “gift” for the people of the region. “This is a demand I had raised in Parliament. It addresses the aspirations of the people of Ladakh and we welcome it,” he said.