New quota, domicile rules in Ladakh plan

The Union government on Tuesday notified a raft of landmark rules for Ladakh, allowing reservation up to 85%, a 15-year residency requirement for domicile status, setting aside one-third of seats in hill councils for women, and recognising five official languages.

- Neeraj Chauhan and Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

NEW DELHI/JAMMU:

The rules — part of efforts to safeguard the region's interests — come after months of protest by local groups and represent the most significant change to the region's administrative architecture since it was made into a Union Territory and hived off from Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.

"The rules were notified days after the ministry and Ladakhi representatives met on May 27 and agreed," said an official aware of the matter.