Civil society rejects Home Ministry plan

The Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance rejected the Union Home Ministry's 32-page proposal on Saturday, October 17, 2026, calling it a significant departure from previous Centre commitments.

“a significant departure from the assurances and commitments made during previous meetings”

What the Ministry proposed

The Home Ministry's document proposed a two-stage approach involving constitutional amendment and regulation under Article 240, with a directly elected Union Territory-level body and safeguards for land, natural resources, culture and other issues.

Chief Secretary calls for dialogue

Ladakh Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra said the Union government was committed to shaping a customised sui generis model to meet the region's demands through dialogue and discussion.

Kundra on meaningful negotiations

The Chief Secretary said meaningful negotiations require mutual trust and an open mind and patience, after civil society bodies rejected the proposal within two hours of receiving it.

“meaningful negotiations require mutual trust and an open mind and patience”

Progress made on key demands

Kundra said tangible gains were made progressively in May, July and September on demands including employment, land, religion, culture, environment and natural resources.

Article 371 offers flexibility

The Centre is pushing a sui generis model under the special provision K under Article 371, which Kundra said has enough flexibility to provide constitutional protection for Ladakh.

“Ladakh needs a creative solution, and Article 371 has enough flexibility to provide constitutional protection”

Open questions remain unresolved

Several institutional questions remain open, including the proposed body's nomenclature, composition, election method, women's representation, nominated members, election authority, constituency delimitation, electoral rolls and tenure.

Statehood and Sixth Schedule explained

Kundra explained that Statehood and Sixth Schedule inclusion can only be met in specific contexts. The Sixth Schedule was created for minority communities needing safeguards against majority discrimination in Northeastern States.

Ladakh's financial dependence on Centre

On Statehood with legislature, Kundra said Ladakh as a Union Territory depends one hundred percent on the Centre for funding salaries and pensions, and must generate its own revenue like Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi.

Consensus needed to move forward

Kundra said these issues could not be settled unilaterally and required broad based consensus among Ladakh's leadership and stakeholders, expressing hope that remaining issues would be resolved through continued consultation.