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Ladakh: Govt notifies 85 per cent local reservation and new domicile rules

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03rd June, 2025 13:43 IST

The government on Tuesday, 3 June, introduced new reservation and domicile rules for the Union Territory of Ladakh, reserving 85 per cent jobs for locals and one-third of the total number of seats in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils for women.

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 .

The changes in the policies for reservation in jobs and on autonomous councils and for domicile rules will come into effect immediately, according to multiple notifications issued by the government.

Under the new rules, those who have resided for a period of 15 years in the union territory or have studied for a period of 7 years and appeared in the class 10 or class 12 examinations at an educational institution located in there shall be regarded as domiciles of Ladakh for the purposes of appointment to any post in the union territory government, in a local authority or any authority other than the Cantonment Board.

Children of central government officials, All India Services officers, officials of public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies of the central government, employees in public sector banks, officials of statutory bodies, officials of central universities and recognised research institutes of the central government who have served in the union territory for a total of 10 years are also eligible for domicile, however.

The reservation for the economically weaker sections (EWS) continues to be 10 per cent, and is not included in the 85 per cent notified.

In another notification, the government said that in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997, not less than one-third of the total number of seats in the Council shall be reserved for women and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different territorial constituencies.

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.

A high-level committee led by minister of state for home Nityanand Rai was first constituted in January 2023 to address the concerns of the people in Ladakh. It held several meetings with the representatives of Ladakh to find an amicable solution to their demands.

In October 2024, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk also sat on an indefinite fast in Delhi (main image above) to press for their demands.

After that, talks were held with civil society leaders from Ladakh on 3 December 2024 and again on 15 January this year and .

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