New Reservation, Domicile Rules In Ladakh: 85% Job Quota For Locals
Last Updated:
The rotation of constituencies reserved for women shall be made on the basis of serial number allotted to each constituency by notification in the official gazette
The government on Tuesday announced new reservation and domicile policies for the Union Territory of Ladakh, reserving 85 per centof jobs for locals and one-third of the total number of seats in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils for women.
English, Hindi, Urdu, Bhoti and Purgi languages have been made the official languages in Ladakh.
The move is aimed at safeguarding local interests as people in Ladakh have been protesting for constitutional safeguards to protect their language, culture and land after the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 was abrogated in 2019.
The changes in the policies for reservation in jobs, autonomous councils, domicile and languages will come into effect from Tuesday, according to multiple notifications issued by the government.
Under the new rules, those who have resided for a period of 15 years in the UT or studied for a period of seven years and appeared in class 10 or 12 examination in an educational institution located in the UT shall be domicile of Ladakh for the purposes of appointment to any post under the UT or under a local or other authority other than cantonment board.
Children of central government officials, All India Services Officers, officials of Public Sector Undertaking and autonomous body of central government, Public Sector Banks, officials of statutory bodies, officials of central universities and recognised research institutes of central government who have served in the UT for a total period of 10 years are also eligible for domicile.
Reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections continues to be 10 per cent.
The rotation of constituencies reserved for women shall be made on the basis of serial number allotted to each constituency by notification in the official gazette.
Ladakh has two autonomous hill development councils – the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh and the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil.
Domicile certificate will be valid only for the purpose of appointment to the posts under the UT of Ladakh as defined in the Ladakh Civil Services Decentralisation and Recruitment (Amendment) Regulation, 2025.
Besides making English, Hindi, Urdu, Bhoti and Purgi as the official languages of Ladakh, the government said English shall continue to be used for all the official purposes of the UT for which it was being used before the date of commencement of this regulation.
The administrator of the UT will also take such necessary steps to strengthen the institutional mechanisms for the promotion and development of other languages in Ladakh and the establishment of the Academy of Art, Culture and Languages.
Special efforts will be made for the promotion and development of other native languages of Ladakh like Shina (Dardic), Brokskat (Dardic), Balti and Ladakhi.
According to the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, Jammu and Kashmir has been made a UT with a legislative assembly and Ladakh a UT without any assembly.
The BJP-led Centre had assured a delegation from Ladakh in December 2023 that it was committed to fast-tracking the development of the UT and meeting the aspirations of the people in the region.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Home Affairs formed a High Powered Committee (HPC) for Ladakh under Union Minister of State Nityanand Rai's chairmanship to discuss measures needed to protect the region's unique culture and language, taking into consideration its geographical location and strategic importance.
The HPC was given mandate to discuss ways for protection of land and employment, measures for inclusive development and employment generation in the region, measures related to the empowerment of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil and constitutional safeguards that could be provided.
Several organisations of Ladakh were demanding a separate UT for the region for decades and the demand was fulfilled on August 5, 2019. However, many people of Ladakh were not happy after losing the rights to elect their representatives to the legislative assembly.
In August 2024, the Centre created five new districts in the UT of Ladakh.The new districts were Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra and Changthang. Being a UT, Ladakh comes under the direct administrative control of the union home ministry.
In October 2024, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk also sat on an indefinite fast in Delhi to press for their demands After that, talks were held with civil society leaders from Ladakh on December 3, 2024 and again on January 15 this year and on May 27.
(with PTI inputs)
About the Author
Saurabh Verma
Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter --twitter.com/saurabhkverma19
First Published:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
United News of India
34 minutes ago
- United News of India
Maha govt scraps three-language policy
Mumbai, June 29 (UNI) the Maharashtra Cabinet today decided to withdraw the three-language policy, which had generated much political heat over the issue of teaching Hindi as a third language to students from classes 1 to 5. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis informed that the Cabinet has decided to withdraw the policy. Fadnavis announced that a committee will be formed under the leadership of Dr. Narendra Jadhav on behalf of the state government to decide from which class the three-language formula. should be implemented. As per the provisions of the new education plan of the central government, the Mahayuti government had announced that Hindi would be taught as a third language to students from classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English medium schools. The opposition had raised a huge uproar. Raj Thackeray's MNS and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) have decided to stage a protest on June 5. UNI SP SSP.
India Today
39 minutes ago
- India Today
Poison in mind against Marathi: Uddhav jabs Fadnavis after language policy nixed
With the Maharashtra government withdrawing its earlier resolution on the three-language policy and announcing the formation of a new committee to discuss the matter, Shiv Sena (UBT) has accused Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of being "against the Marathi language"."Why is the Chief Minister against Marathi?.... They should discuss other important assembly session is going to is there poison in the mind (of the Chief Minister) against the Marathi language? The Chief Minister is against the Marathi language...," Uddhav Thackery told backlash, the Maharashtra government on Sunday cancelled its amended government resolution (GR) on the three-language policy and announced the formation of a new committee to review and implement the policy committee will be headed by former Rajya Sabha MP Narendra Jadhav. "In cabinet today, we have decided that on the three-language policy and how it should be implemented, a committee under Dr Narendra Jadhav will be formed. The three-language policy will be implemented after the report of this committee," Fadnavis told alleged that it was former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who had accepted the recommendations of the Dr Raghunath Mashelkar committee to introduce a three-language policy from class 1 to 12, and had also constituted a panel for its implementation, according to a press note by the Maharashtra controversy erupted after the Mahayuti government issued a GR in April stating that Hindi would be the default third language from Classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English-medium schools. The move was part of the phased rollout of the Centre's National Education Policy 2020 at the primary school was an immediate outcry from political, social and cultural groups, prompting Fadnavis to make a U-turn and clarify that Hindi would not be mandatory and students could opt for any other regional language. Earlier this month, a modified order said that Hindi would "generally" be taught as the third language to on June 24, Devendra Fadnavis stated that the final decision regarding the three-language formula will be taken only after discussions with litterateurs, language experts, political leaders, and all other concerned parties.- EndsWith inputs from ANIMust Watch
The Hindu
41 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Language of unity: On Maharashtra and the issue of Hindi
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 mandates that all students across the country must learn three languages in school. Theoretically, NEP 2020 is more flexible than the previous versions of the three-language policy in India, which have always faced resistance not just in south India but also different States. Hindi is only one of the many Indian languages, and States are free to choose any two Indian languages and one foreign language in the mix of three, according to NEP 2020. However, the fear that Hindi will become the default option as the second Indian language apart from the native language is aggravated by Maharashtra government's attempts to prioritise Hindi over other regional languages and its continuing vacillation on the issue. The State has now withdrawn its decision that Hindi will 'generally' be taught until Class five, as the second Indian language, after it kicked off a political storm in the State and put the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the back foot. A committee headed by Dr. Narendra Jadhav will now deliberate with all stakeholders on the relevance of the three-language policy. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the government would accept its recommendation. This change of heart comes after estranged cousins Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, legatees of a strident version of Marathi pride that often turned into violent xenophobia, came together to oppose what they see as 'imposition' of Hindi. Evidently, the language issue is uniting political rivals against the BJP. Languages associated with power gain more influence but attempts to force languages on people on the back of political power can be divisive. The paradox is that the BJP sees the three language policy as a question of national pride and unity. It is clear that most students, including those in India's Hindi-speaking regions, want to learn English. According to Maharashtra Minister Ashish Shelar, nearly a fifth of students in the State are learning a third language and the new policy would give that option to all students. There are 15 languages including Hindi available in schools under the third language option, and when at least 20 students demand a language in a school, it will be taught. While this sounds noble and politically neutral, the actual implementation is different. Hardly anyone in Bihar has learnt Tamil or Malayalam or Kannada or Telugu under the three language policy so far. The chances of an overwhelming majority of students ending up with Hindi as part of the three-language policy is high. No State or school can offer a vast range of languages. The BJP must reassess its language policy taking into account the responses that are emerging from different parts of the country. It must learn the language of unity.
