Govt to speed up creation of distts, Gazetted recruitment
*LAB leaders join protest in Union capital
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Oct 20: With climate activist and social reformer Sonam Wangchuk going ahead with his fast in New Delhi and protesters hitting streets at various places in Leh in support of four-point agenda including Statehood and Sixth Schedule for Ladakh, senior BJP leaders from the Union Territory met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and briefed him on the local issues in New Delhi today.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had some time back approved five new districts for Ladakh including three in Leh and two in Kargil. However, the decision failed to have any impact on the protesters with Wangchuk taking out month-long ‘padyatra’ from Leh to New Delhi and then holding protest at Ladakh Bhawan continuously along with the activists.
The protest was also joined today by Leh Apex Body (LAB) co-chairman Chering Dorjay Lakruk and some activists of the LAB in New Delhi. The LAB and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) were spearheading the agitation for four major demands including Sixth Schedule Status, Statehood, two Lok Sabha seats and dedicated Public Services Commission (PSC) for Ladakh.
With Wangchuk continuously sitting on dharna in New Delhi and people in different parts of Leh district taking to streets holding protests and rallies in support of their demands, the BJP UT leaders from Ladakh rushed to New Delhi and met Amit Shah besides senior BJP leaders. They briefed them on the situation in Ladakh in view of the protests.
The leaders who met Shah included Phunchok Stanzin, UT BJP chief, Tashi Gyalson, Chairman-cum-CEC, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh, Deputy Chairman LAHDC Leh Tsering Angchuk, PT Kunzang, UT general secretary and Tashi Gyaltson Kachu, district president.
The Central Government has already ruled out Sixth Schedule status and Statehood for Ladakh but is open to empowering the Hill Development Councils to ensure protection of land, culture, identity etc of the people of Ladakh.
Sources said the Union Home Minister reportedly assured the BJP leaders that process for creation of five districts has already been set in motion by the UT administration and it will be done soon after a high-level Committee constituted for the purpose submits its report while recruitment on Gazetted posts which has been held up for a long time will also start.
Newly created districts include Sham, Nubra and Changthang, all in Leh district and Zanskar and Drass in Kargil district. Presently, the Ladakh UT created on August 5, 2019 after being separated from Jammu and Kashmir, has two districts only including Leh and Kargil. Total number of districts has now gone up to seven.
Though LAB, KDA and other organizations had welcomed new districts, they stated that their agitation for Sixth Schedule status and Statehood for Ladakh will go on.
Wangchuk besides LAB and KDA have been demanding that the MHA calls them for talks on their issues but so far there has been no response from the Home Ministry. The MHA Joint Secretary had received memorandum from Wangchuk when he broke his fast in New Delhi but there has been no invite for the talks.
Previously, the Government held several rounds of talks with LAB and KDA. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai headed the Committee for talks. However, the dialogue was deadlocked on the issue of Sixth Schedule status and Statehood.
The Central Government as well as the BJP leadership are of the view that UT was long pending demand of the people of Ladakh especially Leh district which was conceded on August 5, 2019. On Sixth Schedule, the Centre is reportedly ready to empower the Hill Development Councils to protect, land, jobs, culture, identity etc of the people of Ladakh.
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