Delegation from Ladakh calls on Union minister Nityanand Rai

A delegation from the Union Territory of Ladakh met Union minister Nityanand Rai on Monday and discussed with him their major demands, including statehood for the high-altitude region and bringing the area under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, sources said.

The 14-member delegation, including representatives of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), pressed for their four-point demands before Rai and sought an early resolution of their issues.

The demands are statehood for Ladakh, two Lok Sabha seats (one for Kargil and one for Leh), job opportunities for the residents of the Union Territory and constitutional protection under the Sixth Schedule.

Rai, the minister of state for home, asked the delegation members to submit a detailed list with their demands and assured them that the Centre will look into the issues and take appropriate decisions, the sources said.

The delegation members expressed optimism over the deliberations.

Several organisations of Ladakh were demanding a separate Union Territory for the region for decades and the demand was fulfilled on August 5, 2019 with the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The KDA and the LAB, in the recent past, protested at different locations, including New Delhi, Jammu and Ladakh, highlighting the four demands.

The delegation had its last meeting with a high-powered committee of the Centre in June.

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