The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday (June 3, 2025) introduced new policies on reservation, languages, domicile and composition of hill councils for the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh.
These policies pave way to 85% of reservation for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) in government jobs.
Only citizens who have had a continuous 15-year stay in the region, beginning 2019, will be considered domiciles, according to a consensus reached at a high-powered committee meeting between civil society leaders and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) officials on May 27, 2025.
Any ‘outsider’ who settled in Ladakh after its special status along with that of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was struck down in 2019 will be considered a domicile only after 2034.
The J&K domicile policy notified in 2020 removed the concept of permanent residents stating that anyone “who has resided for 15 years in the UT of J&K or has studied for seven years and appeared in Class 10th /12th examination in an educational institution located in the UT of J&K or who is registered as a migrant by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants)” will be considered a domicile.
According to the notification released by MHA, in a first, one-third of the seats will be reserved for women in the hill councils.
English, Hindi, Urdu, Bhoti and Purgi languages shall be the official languages of the UT.
Currently, at least 80% of vacancies are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST), 4% for people living along the Line of Actual Control/Line of Control, 1% for Scheduled Castes and 10% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
During the December 3 talks, the MHA had proposed a 95% reservation in government jobs for locals in Ladakh and a one-third reservation for women in hill councils.
The HPC led by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai was first constituted in January 2023 to address the concerns of people in Ladakh. The talks broke down in March 2024.
In October 2024, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk sat on an indefinite fast in Delhi to draw the government’s attention to their demands, after which the MHA agreed to resume talks with civil society leaders from Ladakh on December 3, the same year. The next meeting was held on January 15, and the meeting on May 27, 2025, was the third round of dialogue after the talks resumed.
After the special status of the former State of J&K under Article 370 was withdrawn in 2019, Ladakh has been protesting for constitutional safeguards to protect the language, culture and land in the region.
Published – June 03, 2025 09:19 am IST
