Union territory of Ladakh to get five new districts, announces Home Ministry

The decision was announced by Amit Shah through a post on 'X', saying the Ministry of Home Affairs' action comes in 'pursuit' of the Prime Minister's vision to build a 'developed and prosperous' Ladakh.

The Narendra Modi government on Monday announced the creation of five new districts in the union territory of Ladakh, in what the Prime Minister described as a step towards better governance and prosperity.

So far, Ladakh had only two districts -- Leh and Kargil. The new districts will come into existence after the Ladakh administration sends its "final proposal" on logistics like headquarters to the MHA.

The decision was announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah through a post on 'X', saying the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) action comes in "pursuit" of the Prime Minister's vision to build a "developed and prosperous" Ladakh.

"The new districts, namely Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra and Changthang, will take the benefits meant for the people to their doorsteps by bolstering governance in every nook and cranny. The Modi government is committed to creating abundant opportunities for the people of Ladakh," he said.

Following Shah's announcement, Prime Minister Modi said the creation of five new districts in Ladakh is a "step towards better governance and prosperity" and the new districts will now receive more "focused attention, bringing services and opportunities even closer" to the people. "Congratulations to the people there," he added.

The decision to form new districts in the one of the least populated, extremely difficult and inaccessible union territories came as the present administration was facing many difficulties in reaching to the grassroots level.

After the formation of these districts, the MHA said all the public welfare schemes of the central government and Ladakh administration will be able to reach the people easily and more and more people will be able to take advantage of them. "This important decision of MHA will prove to be very useful in the all-round development of Ladakh," a statement said.

Ladakh was created as a union territory after the bifurcation of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019. The other UT is Jammu and Kashmir.

Being a union territory without a legislature, Ladakh comes under the direct administrative control of the MHA.

Along with giving “in-principle approval” for the formation of the new districts, the MHA has also asked the Ladakh administration to form a committee to assess various aspects related to the formation of new districts, such as headquarters, boundaries, structure, creation of posts, any other aspect related to the formation of district etc. It has been asked to submit its report within three months.

After receiving the report , the Union Territory of Ladakh will send the final proposal regarding the creation of new districts to the MHA for further action.