President Murmu approves amendment to set up hill council elections across all eight Ladakh districts

President Droupadi Murmu gave formal approval to an amendment that will allow elections for hill councils in each of Ladakh’s eight districts, a step announced by Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Tuesday. The amendment, titled the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Amendment) Regulation, 2026, was signed on 16 October after the Union Cabinet cleared it on 14 October, a turnaround of just six days. Saxena described the move as a landmark because it opens the way for councils in every district, including the newly formed Sankoo district. The new rule changes the size of each council, reducing the earlier uniform 26 seats to a range of seven to twenty‑four seats, and adds four nominated members representing women and other under‑represented groups to boost local participation. Saxena expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for supporting the change, saying it will strengthen grassroots democracy. Ladakh became a Union Territory in 2019, when it was split from Jammu and Kashmir. Before this year, it had only two hill councils – one in Kargil and another in Leh. The current administration has created eight districts, prompting the need for council elections. The Kargil Democratic Alliance, a civil‑society group, voiced concerns that the timing clashes with ongoing talks about Ladakh’s constitutional status and the Sixth Schedule, arguing that the changes were made without consulting locals.

Context

The hill councils are meant to give districts a voice in local governance. Expanding them now comes as the centre negotiates Ladakh’s future political arrangements, making the balance between local autonomy and central oversight a key issue.