Ladakh to get autonomous hill councils in all seven districts
The Union Territory administration of Ladakh announced that Autonomous Hill Development Councils (AHDCs) will be constituted in all seven districts of the UT, decentralising governance powers over land, employment, and local development.
The five newly created districts — Sham, Nubra, Changthang, Zanskar, and Drass — carved out of the existing Leh and Kargil districts, will each get their own council with the same statutory powers already exercised by the Leh council (since 1995) and the Kargil council (since 2003).
Amendments to the governing Act, wherever required, and delimitation of new council constituencies remain to be completed before the new councils can be formally constituted and elections held.
The move follows the April 2026 notification creating the five new districts, which expanded Ladakh from two districts to seven — three carved from Leh (Nubra, Sham, Changthang) and two from Kargil (Zanskar, Drass).
Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDC) Act, 1997
The LAHDCs are statutory bodies, not constitutional ones — they were created under a law enacted by the erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state legislature (the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997), continued as applicable law after Ladakh became a Union Territory without a legislature in 2019. This distinguishes LAHDCs from the constitutionally entrenched Autonomous District Councils under the Sixth Schedule.
Key Details
- The Leh LAHDC was first constituted in 1995 (under an earlier 1995 Act, later replaced by the 1997 Act framework extended to Kargil); the Kargil LAHDC followed in 2003.
- LAHDCs function as District Planning and Development Boards, with powers over land use, agriculture, health, education, and local taxation within their jurisdiction, subject to the UT administration's overall authority.
- Because LAHDCs derive their powers from an ordinary statute (not a constitutional schedule), the UT administration or Parliament can amend or curtail their powers without a constitutional amendment — a key vulnerability that fuels Ladakh's demand for Sixth Schedule status.
- The LAHDC Act was amended to reserve one-third of council seats for women, on a rotational basis, in both Leh and Kargil councils.
The extension of AHDCs to all seven districts uses this same 1997 Act framework, giving new districts the same statutory (not constitutional) autonomy already enjoyed by Leh and Kargil.
Sixth Schedule (Article 244) vs. Ladakh's Statutory Councils
Article 244(2), read with the Sixth Schedule, provides for constitutionally protected Autonomous District Councils with legislative, judicial, and administrative powers, but applies only to specified tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram. Ladakh — where over 97% of the population is Scheduled Tribe — is not covered by the Sixth Schedule and has been demanding its extension since becoming a Union Territory without a legislature in 2019.
Key Details
- Sixth Schedule councils have law-making powers over land, forests, and customary law, and their existence cannot be altered by an ordinary UT-level notification, unlike LAHDCs.
- A High-Powered Committee under the Minister of State for Home Affairs was constituted to examine safeguards for Ladakh's land, culture, language, and employment, including its Sixth Schedule demand.
- The Government's stated position (before Parliament's Standing Committee) has been that the Sixth Schedule was constitutionally designed for the North-East, and that Ladakh's LAHDC framework, if strengthened, can achieve similar developmental and decision-making outcomes.
- Regulations for Ladakh can currently be issued by the President under Article 240 (applicable to UTs without a legislature), which — unlike the Sixth Schedule — can be amended or revoked without a constitutional amendment.
Expanding LAHDCs to all seven districts is being presented as strengthening local self-governance within the existing statutory framework, seen by some as a step short of the constitutionally protected Sixth Schedule status the region continues to seek.
Ladakh's Union Territory Status
Ladakh became a Union Territory without a legislature (unlike Jammu & Kashmir, which retains a UT with a legislature) on 31 October 2019, under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which bifurcated the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir.
Key Details
- As a UT without a legislature, Ladakh is administered directly by a Lieutenant Governor under the Union Government, with no elected state/UT assembly of its own — making the LAHDCs the only directly elected local self-government bodies for the region.
- Ladakh's district count grew from 2 (Leh and Kargil) to 7 following the April 2026 notification, with the Ministry of Home Affairs having approved the new districts in August 2024.
- The seven districts are: Leh, Kargil, Nubra, Sham, Changthang (carved from Leh), and Zanskar, Drass (carved from Kargil).
The absence of an elected legislature in Ladakh increases the practical significance of LAHDCs as the primary vehicle for local political representation, explaining why their extension to all seven districts is treated as a major governance milestone.
- Ladakh's districts increased from 2 to 7: new districts Sham, Nubra, Changthang (from Leh) and Zanskar, Drass (from Kargil), notified 27 April 2026.
- Leh LAHDC constituted: 1995; Kargil LAHDC constituted: 2003; governing law: LAHDC Act, 1997.
- Ladakh became a Union Territory without a legislature on 31 October 2019, under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
- Over 97% of Ladakh's population is Scheduled Tribe, a key basis for its Sixth Schedule demand.
- Sixth Schedule (Article 244(2)) currently applies only to tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram.