Ladakh groups say Centre agrees on domicile policy, jobs

Ladakhis in talks with the Centre on Wednesday, 28 May met Union home minister Amit Shah and said that in a breakthrough, the two sides agreed on the issues of domicile policy, reservation and recruitment.

The representatives from the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) hoped that the issues of statehood and status under the Sixth Schedule would also be taken up soon.

A delegation from the two outfits had met a committee of the home ministry under minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai on Tuesday, 27 May, and had a meeting with Shah Wednesday.

"After prolonged deliberations and discussions with the ministry of home affairs, we have finally come out of a deadlock. We have witnessed progress on the domicile issue, and reservation and recruitment process for gazetted posts," Kargil-based activist and politician Sajjad Kargili, who attended the meeting as a member of the KDA, told PTI.

"The 15-year domicile criteria for prospective residents of Ladakh have been finalised through mutual understanding with the home ministry. It has also been decided that the recruitment process will be started soon," he said.

Kargili said that in the meeting with Shah, the representatives urged him to ensure that the discussions lead to concrete outcomes.

"We thanked the home minister that the talks are progressing well. I personally requested Amit Shah ji to fulfil his commitment to empower Ladakh and to preserve its identity. Giving a legislature and safeguards to Ladakh (under the Sixth Schedule) is the way forward... We hope discussions on the issue of statehood and the demand for sixth schedule status will be taken up soon," he said.

Kargili said the next meeting will be held within a month.

"The issue of the Public Service Commission has not been resolved yet, we will take that forward," he said.

During the Tuesday meeting, the ministry agreed on a new domicile criterion, under which a person would be required to have continuously been living in Ladakh for 15 years to qualify as a domicile, Kargili said.

Those who settled in Ladakh after 2019, the year Article 370 and Article 35A were struck down, will qualify for having domicile status only after residing there for 15 years.

According to sources, there was also an agreement that that all non-gazetted jobs will be reserved for locals, while 95 per cent of gazetted posts – 85 per cent in the general category and 10 per cent for the economically weaker sections – will be reserved for those who have a Ladakh resident certificate.

Ladakh was carved into a union territory without a legislature when Article 370 and Article 35A were abrogated on 5 August 2019 and Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two union territories.

Amid growing demands for statehood and special status under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution in January 2023, the home ministry constituted a high-powered committee headed by Rai to "ensure protection of land and employment" for the people of Ladakh.

A series of meetings were held till the talks fell apart in March 2024.

The deadlock was followed by a fast by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk in Leh, which was suspended shortly before the Lok Sabha polls.

Wangchuk again took out a march from Leh to Delhi, demanding Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh, and also sat on a hunger strike at the national capital's Ladakh Bhawan in October 2024, before a breakthrough was reached and the talks were resumed.

According to the representatives from the LAB and KDA, in the meeting held on 4 December 2024, the government had agreed to 95 per cent reservations for locals in jobs. The last meeting was held on 15 January.