Ladakh Admin Forms High-Level Committee to Review, Strengthen LAHDC Act

SRINAGAR: The administration of the Union Territory of Ladakh has constituted a high-level committee to review the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Act of 1997, and recommend measures to strengthen the region’s Hill Councils.

Headed by senior IAS officer Sanjeev Khirwar, the four-member committee has been tasked with evaluating the current provisions of the LAHDC Act and suggesting reforms to bolster the functioning of the Hill Councils, which serve as the highest elected bodies in Ladakh. The move follows directives from the Union Home Secretary during his official visit to Ladakh between June 30 and July 1.

According to the government order, the committee will also examine land-related issues in the region, particularly the matter of Nautor land, government-owned barren or wasteland that local residents have cultivated and are now seeking to regularize in their names.

Other members of the committee include IAS officer Michael M. D’Souza, Tariq Mehmood Qureshi, Special Secretary in the Department of Law and Justice, and Rigzin Spalon, Additional Secretary in the General Administration Department.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in a letter to the Chief Secretary of Ladakh dated July 17, emphasized the need for a comprehensive review of the LAHDC Act, directing the committee to submit recommendations aimed at empowering the Councils of Leh and Kargil.

To support its work, the committee will be assisted by Deputy Commissioners, Chief Executive Officers of LAHDC Leh and Kargil, and Assistant Commissioners Revenue of both districts. The General Administration Department will serve as the secretariat for the committee.

The formation of the committee marks a significant step in the region’s ongoing governance reforms following Ladakh’s separation from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.