New policies for Ladakh

Prelims : Current events of national and international importance | Governance

Why in News?

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently 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.

• Reservation based on Domicile Tag - Only citizens who have had a continuous 15-year stay in the region, beginning 2019, will be considered domiciles.
• 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
  • Studied for 7 years and appeared in Class 10^th /12^th 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.
• Reservation in Hill Councils - One-third of the seats will be reserved for women in the hill councils.
• Reservation based on Languages - 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).
• The MHA had proposed a 95% reservation in government jobs for locals in Ladakh and a one-third reservation for women in hill councils.

Reference

The Hindu | New policies for Union Territory of Ladakh