After the passage of the Reorganization Act, Ladakh has little autonomy or participatory democracy
Just a day before the passage of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act of 2019, Ladakh enjoyed a classical three-tier administrative system. The Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil read with the framework of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and its bicameral legislative system gave autonomy and participatory democracy to Ladakh. It also protected the interests of the tribal majority population of Ladakh.
The largest elected body in Ladakh, the Hill Council was further enabled by the state government through the state assembly and the two institutions worked in a synchronized manner. Hill councils had rights over land in Ladakh, while most of the major concerns regarding land were protected under Article 370 and the strong land conservation laws of Jammu and Kashmir. Similarly, gazetted officers were recruited through the State Public Service Commission. District Service Selection Board has done the recruitments at the district level. But today, there is no Public Service Commission in Ladakh and the Hill Council’s power to make recruitment at the district level has also been affected by the presence of the Lieutenant Governor (LG). Technically, there is no law in Ladakh now that protects land or even jobs. The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs had recommended in 2019 that Ladakh be declared a tribal area, but this recommendation has disappeared in the air.
Apart from making Ladakh a sensitive Union Territory (UT), the Reorganization Act has taken away participatory democracy from Ladakh – first by taking away the six seats of members of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council and secondly by awakening the functioning of the Hill Council. The only elected representative from Ladakh outside Ladakh is a lone MP.
On the one hand there is a political vacuum in Ladakh and on the other hand the power of the bureaucracy has tightened. The fundamental constitutional dichotomy between the LG’s office and the Hill Council, the functioning of the LG and their offices were very different from the way institutions previously functioned in Ladakh.
The feet of the office of LG and his team are in Ladakh but the heart is in Delhi. LG’s office has followed a corporate model of working – most of the officers are from Hill Council and the rest are recruited through outsourcing agencies. Officers are working too much. The focus is on creating a new work environment without addressing the issues arising due to the transition from state to union territory. These include issues of transport operators who are not able to renew their permits and issues of transfer and promotion of higher education employees. The focus is on enhancing the work done on social media rather than actual engagement with the people at the grassroots level.
The fact that the office of the LG has not been able to align with the people of Ladakh is best manifested by the rise of two major groups in Ladakh: The Apex Body Leh and the Kargil Democratic Alliance. These groups represent almost all the religious and political bodies of Ladakh. Although they initially had different demands, they now share a common agenda: statehood. He also advocates other constitutional safeguards that have been given to the Northeast. Both the bodies have wide acceptance in Ladakh. However, it would be wrong to call his emergence the result of his disdain for the UT administration. Rather, it has dawned on the people of Ladakh that a union territory without a legislature is nothing but a reminder of evictions and collective despair.
Mustafa Haji is a lawyer, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court