Arteev Sharma
Jammu: Another round of talks between the officials of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ladakh leadership in Leh town on Wednesday failed to make any major breakthrough over the implementation of the in-principle agreement for establishing a customised sui generis governance model for Ladakh under Article 371.
Sources told The News Now that leaders of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) took exception to what the MHA team described as a “development agenda” during the meeting and insisted that their key demands were “non-negotiable” and could not be diluted. They alleged that MHA officials were following “diversionary tactics” to make drift from all major issues of Ladakh.
With the Ladakh leaders showing no sign of relent, the MHA officials invited representatives of the LAB and KDA for another round of talks, likely to be held in New Delhi in the first week of September to carry forward the dialogue and finalise a roadmap for implementing the in-principle consensus reached on the major demands of Ladakh.
The meeting was attended by senior KDA leaders, including Asgar Ali Karbalai, Sajjad Kargili and Ghulam Rasool, while the LAB delegation included its chairman Chering Dorjay Lakruk, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and Ladakh Lok Sabha member Haji Hanifa Jan.
The leaders also submitted a memorandum comprising “list of non-negotiable points” and sought its time-bound implementation for ensuring constitutional safeguards for the sensitive region like Ladakh.
Among the key demands, the LAB and KDA sought a governance structure with an elected Ladakh Legislative Assembly, headed by a Chief Minister and a Council of Ministers, with members elected from constituencies demarcated through a constitutionally recognised delimitation mechanism.
According to the memorandum, the proposed framework should provide the elected legislature with powers based substantially on Lists II and III of the Seventh Schedule under Article 246 of the Constitution, along with provisions of the Union Territories Act, 1963 wherever required.
The leaders also demanded that the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh function on the aid and advice of the elected Assembly and government to prevent conflicts between the elected representatives and the UT administration.
The leaders further suggested that the elected Ladakh Legislative Assembly must have “meaningful and constitutionally protected control” over taxation, Budget, appropriation, expenditure, borrowing and public funds, including a constitutionally protected Consolidated Fund and Contingency Fund.
“The constitutional framework should incorporate provisions corresponding to and adapted from
Articles 198-209, covering Money Bills, Annual Financial Statement, grants, appropriation and financial procedure & also the extension of Article 246 the current List II of the Seventh Schedule, for Ladakh,” they said.
For the constitutionally empowered elected legislature, they suggested that the UT-level elected Legislature must be directly elected, constitutionally empowered and provided with separately constituted and properly delimited Assembly constituencies through a constitutionally recognized delimitation mechanism. “In accordance with the Part VI the states Chapter III, Its composition, territorial representation, legislative, executive and financial powers must be expressly defined within the constitution , also drawing safeguards from relevant constitutional principles, including those provisions in the states, where Articles 371A, 371F and 371G are in force,” they suggested.
As far as Home, public order and police areas are concerned, the leaders said, “Home Affair must be placed substantially under the democratic control of the elected Government and Ladakh Legislative Assembly, drawing upon the constitutional principles reflected in Articles 162, 163 and 166(3) and the extension of the List II of the Seventh Schedule for Ladakh, with arrangements applicable to UT of Puducheny and the erstwhile UT of Mizoram serving as relevant constitutional reference points.
For separate Ladakh Public Service Commission (LPSC) and Cadres, they said that separate Public Service Commission, together with distinct Ladakh Administrative and Police Services and appropriate Ladakh-specific cadres. “Necessary constitutional and legislative amendments should be made, including Section 93(2) of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 and Article 315, to establish an appropriate constitutional framework for Ladakh’s public services, as Ladakh shall have a UT level legislative assembly,” they said.
Pertinently, the MHA and the leaders from Ladakh on July 3 had reached an in-principle agreement on restoring democracy in Ladakh and providing Constitutional safeguards on the lines of Article 371 A, F, and G (as applied to Nagaland, Sikkim and Mizoram) in May 22 meeting in New Delhi. The consensus reached after extensive deliberations between the two sides, wherein they signed the minutes of the previous meeting of the MHA-constituted sub-committee held on May 22.
