Question : Tribal Area Status to Ladakh

(a) whether after demarcation of Jammu and Kashmir State making Ladakh a Union Territory, the Government has asked the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes to examine the issue of granting tribal area status to Ladakh;

(b) if so, whether the said Commission has recommended Ladakh to be declared as tribal area under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution;

(c) if so, the other recommendations made by the Commission;

(d) whether the Government has taken a final decision in this regard in consultation with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the time by which a final decision is likely to be taken in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)
(a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT IN REPLY TO THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 214 FOR 3rd DECEMBER, 2019 BY SHRI SYED IMTIAZ JALEEL REGARDING TRIBAL AREA STATUS TO LADAKH

(a) to (c): The National Commission for Schedule Tribes has recommended that the newly created Union Territory of Ladakh be brought in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
(d) to (e): However, as per the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Act, 1997(LAHDC Act 1997), as amended from time to time, continues to be applicable in the successor Union Territory of Ladakh.
The LAHDC Act, 1997 provides for establishment of Autonomous Hill Development Councils in the Ladakh region. Autonomous Hill Development Councils came into existence in Leh in 1995 and in Kargil in 2003.
The powers given to these Councils are more or less in line with the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India. After the amendment of the LAHDC Act, 1997 in 2018, these Councils are perhaps the most empowered Autonomous Hill Development Councils in the Country.
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