Excelsior Correspondent
LEH, Sept 17: Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur along with MP Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal visited LAHDC, Leh’s Council Secretariat today and had a meeting with Counicllors of Hill Council headed by Chairman/ Chief Executive Councillor LAHDC, Leh Gyal P Wangyal.
CEC Wangyal briefed the Minister about the structure and functioning of LAHDC, Leh since its inception. He submitted a ten-point memorandum to the minister based on which he requested for exemption and relief in the GST in respect of Ladakh region by way of reimbursement or refund of the GST for a considered period. He also demanded a handsome package from the Government of India for UT Ladakh to meet its infrastructure requirements and to utilize the resources available in Ladakh.
Executive Councillors, MP Ladakh and Councillors also projected various demands and issues and briefed Minister about the step-motherly treatment given by J&K State Govt to Ladakh for seven decades. They apprised the minister that the total district budget including all the centrally sponsored schemes of GoI does not go beyond Rs. 114 crore for LAHDC, Leh till date and requested his intervention in allocating funds through various ministries.
The Union Minister said that his main purpose of two days visit of Ladakh is to assess the ground reality by meeting with all the stakeholders. He asked LAHDC, Leh to identify important and potential sectors based on which focus approach will be given through relevant ministries.
He said that an official meeting of all the concerned ministries of GoI will be convened soon to address the issues and demands of UT Ladakh and to take for further course of action.
Through the 10-point memorandum the Union Minister was apprised that Ladakh region remains cut off from the rest of the country for major part of the year due to blockade of all access roads resulting from heavy winter snowfall.
Due to long road distances and resultant heavy transportation costs, the cost of services and trade escalates tremendously, thus adversely affecting the revenue margins and savings from such economic activities.
The air connectivity to Ladakh is the costliest in the country. The average cost of cargo transport to Ladakh is about Rs 120 – per Kilogram. Moreover, cargo space is rarely available due to poor availability of air capacity and a limited number of flights.
Another feature typical of the Ladakh region is the very narrow economic window. Due to physical constraints, the general economic activities in the region remains confined to merely 4-5 months in a year and are limited to subsistence level. Another major problem faced by the local trade and service sector is the fact that we have to stock all kinds of trading and developmental materials in bulk for nearly six months in advance before the onset of winter, thus blocking capital and loan funds involving huge interest burden.
Accessibility within the region from the regional centre Leh to different sub-regions and blocks involves travelling and transportation for a minimum of 150 – 400 Kms. The business operates in Ladakh is still heavily labour intensive, thus leading to higher costs of operation.
Other who attended the meeting were Deputy Chairman, LAHDC, Leh Tsering Sandup, Executive Counicllor for Minorities Mumtaz Hussain, Executive Councillor for Education Konchok Stanzin and Councillors.
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