Centre offering Ladakh unique governance model, demand for Statehood to continue: Leh Apex Body leader

Last Friday (May 22, 2026), the Union Home Ministry proposed a new mechanism to grant Ladakh greater legislative, financial and administrative powers within the existing Union Territory framework. The proposal was made in a meeting with the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), the two major civil society bodies from Ladakh.

Since 2020, LAB and KDA have been demanding constitutional safeguards such as Statehood and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, thus giving it a tribal status and an autonomy to decide the laws on land, jobs and culture.