Ladakh Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Ladakh administration on Monday (July 13, 2026) announced 17 new tehsils “to strengthen grassroots governance” in the Union Territory and said the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Act will be extended to all seven districts of the region.
“The administration is working on an institutional framework suited to Ladakh’s unique requirements and is also taking steps to extend the benefits of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Act to all seven newly created districts through appropriate legal provisions,” said Ladakh Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra.
Earlier, Ladakh had only two districts of Leh and Kargil. However, five new districts of Sham, Nubra, Changthang, Zanskar and Drass were notified in April this year. With 17 additional tehsils, Ladakh has a total of 32 tehsils now.
Closer to people
“These initiatives would bring government services closer to the people, reduce travel for citizens living in remote villages and strengthen infrastructure and development across regions, including Zanskar, Drass, Nubra, Changthang and Sham,” said Mr. Kundra.
He said the administration has issued posting orders for tehsildars in 17 newly created tehsils. “Four new divisions under the Public Health Engineering (PHE) and Flood Control Department, along with five new divisions under the Public Works Department (PWD) and PMGSY, have been created to strengthen service delivery in remote areas,” he added.
The senior bureaucrat said significant progress has been made in government recruitment, decentralised governance, and ongoing discussions on constitutional safeguards for Ladakh.
On the issue of constitutional safeguards, Mr. Kundra said several rounds of discussions have been held with representatives of religious organisations and civil society bodies.
“The minutes of the meetings held on May 22 and July 3 have been shared in the public domain to ensure transparency. There is broad consensus on protecting Ladakh’s land, culture and identity while promoting inclusive development,” said Mr. Kundra.
In July, the draft shared by a team of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in Leh suggested that the Centre was considering a customised sui generis model, most suitable for Ladakh, under the provisions of Article 371 for the Union Territory of Ladakh.
Glaring imbalance: KDA
Meanwhile, Kargil-based civil society organisation, the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), said the tehsil figures “reveal a glaring imbalance”.
“While the erstwhile Leh district has been allotted 12 new tehsils, the erstwhile Kargil district has received only five,” said KDA leader Sajjad Kargili.
He said this disparity was difficult to reconcile with objective parameters. “Kargil has a larger population and a greater number of villages than the other five newly created districts combined. Yet its administrative needs appear to have been overlooked. Even more striking is the fact that Drass has not been granted a single additional tehsil, despite its substantial population, large number of villages, and genuine administrative requirements,” said Mr. Kargili.
He said there were instances where a new tehsil was created for a single village. “It has raised serious questions about the criteria adopted for this exercise. This also shows the absence of a sense of justice from the administration and also shows discriminatory approach towards the people of Kargil and Drass,” he added.
Ladakh was carved out as a Union Territory from the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.
Published – July 13, 2026 08:09 pm IST
