JAMMU, Dec 10: Along with five new districts in the Union Territory of Ladakh, 33 new administrative units are likely to be created including Tehsils, Niabats and Patwar Halqas. The UT administration is now awaiting approvals and budgetary allocations from the Union Finance Ministry and nod from the Union Home Ministry before formal creation of the new districts followed by new units.
Officials told that 33 new administrative units are proposed to be created in five new districts including six Tehsils, nine Niabats and 18 Patwar Halqas. All these new units have been identified and will be announced once five new districts are formally created.
Five new districts for the UT of Ladakh which were announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on August 26, 2024 include Sham, Changthang and Nubra in Leh and Zanskar and Drass in Kargil. Presently, Ladakh has only two districts-Leh and Kargil. New units will take total number of districts to seven.
“Headquarters of new districts have also been identified and will be named with formal creation of the new districts,” the officials said, adding six new Tehsils, nine Niabats and 18 Patwar Halqas too have been identified in the new districts. Their boundaries will be revealed once all requisite formalities are completed.
They said the new districts involved significant budgetary allocations and postings of officers, both All India Services and others for which separate proposals have already been forwarded to the Union Ministries of Finance and Home. Once the financial allocations are approved and MHA’s nod is received, the new districts will be formally announced followed by posting of officers and creation of new administrative units like Tehsils, Niabats and Patwar Halqas.
New districts will have new Deputy Commissioners, SSPs, various other senior officers and their subordinate staff. The officers for postings as the DCs and SSPs have to be deputed by the MHA while most of other posts are required to be created for the new districts to function properly.
Officials said the MHA has to take call on whether all seven districts will have Autonomous Hill Development Councils like Leh and Kargil or there will be a new mechanism. All districts will have very less number of voters as entire UT of Ladakh had 1.84 lakh votes when last Parliamentary poll was held in 2024.On the other, the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) have been demanding Statehood and Sixth Schedule status to Ladakh for which they have also submitted detailed document to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The new districts were created on August 26, 2024 and subsequently the UT administration set up a Committee to identify boundaries of new districts, creation of posts, their headquarters, infrastructure and other requirements. The Panel has since submitted its report. The administration had then set up another Committee to study report of the Panel.
Officials, however, admitted that making new districts fully functional can be delayed as it will require ample time to create infrastructure like offices of the DCs and SSPs at the district headquarters and other staff. While senior officers can be posted directly from the AGMUT cadre besides Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services (JKAS) and Jammu and Kashmir Police Services (JKPS), the subordinate staff needs fresh recruitment.
While deferring election to Leh Hill Development Council, the UT of Ladakh administration cited creation of five new districts as among the reasons behind the delay.
Presently, the two districts of Leh and Kargil have the Hill Development Councils with 30 Councilors each-26 of whom were elected while four others are nominated by the UT administration. Each Council has a Chairman and four Executive Councilors.
Elections to Leh Autonomous Hill Development Council were due in October but have been postponed with powers of the Council given to the Deputy Commissioner Leh. The BJP was in power for two consecutive terms in Leh Council.
