LAB says it will stick to Statehood, Sixth Schedule status
MP, CEC, ex MP, former CEC also to attend May 22 meeting
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU May 20: Even as the Union Ministry of Home Affairs didn’t mention agenda for May 22 Sub-Committee meeting and conveyed verbal messages to the leaders of Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), leaders of both the bodies have accepted the invitation and will be attending the talks scheduled for 10 AM at the MHA.
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Three members each from LAB and KDA besides former two-time MP Thupstan Chhewang, who has dissociated from the LAB after serving as co-chairman of the body for a long time, Tashi Gyalson, a senior BJP leader and former Chairman-cum-CEC of Leh Hill Council, Ladakh MP Mohd Hanifa Jan and Chairman-cum-CEC Kargil Hill Council, Dr Mohd Jaffer Akhoon have also been invited to the meeting.
LAB co-chairman Chering Dorjay Lakruk told the Excelsior that he along with Sonam Wangchuk and Lama Dorjay Stanzin will be representing the Apex Body. The KDA delegation is expected to comprise Asgar Ali Karbalai and Sajjad Kargili besides a third leader.
The LAB has proposed that Supreme Court lawyer Vikram Hegde should be allowed to accompany them in the meeting for legal advise.
In Sub-Committee meeting, which is chaired by the MHA officers; the LAB and KDA have three members each.
Chief Secretary Ladakh Ashish Kundra will also attend the meeting.
While Lakruk insisted that they will stick to their agenda i.e. Statehood and Sixth Schedule status to Ladakh, sources said no written agenda or invitation for May 22 Sub-Committee talks have been circulated and the participants have been informed verbally by the administration on behalf of the MHA for the meeting.
Sources said the Ladakh Subordinate Administrative Services (LSAS) could be announced by the MHA shortly as it was reluctant on Statehood and Sixth Schedule status but was considering grant of safeguards in some other forms, may be through the elected Hill Councils.
There have been nearly 1200 vacancies in the Gazetted cadre in the UT of Ladakh which are expected to go up with creation of five new districts. Earlier, there were only two districts in Ladakh but the number has now gone up to seven. The LSAS is now in the final stage of becoming a reality after nearly six and half years of Ladakh becoming a UT.
The UT administration has sent a detailed note to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) last week mentioning details for creation of the LSAS including number of vacancies, finalization of recruitment rules and the UPSC as the agency to conduct exams for the UT’s own administrative services.
However, the LAB and KDA leaders have made it clear that their agenda remains Statehood and Sixth Schedule status.
Last meeting of the MHA with Ladakhi leaders was held in New Delhi on February 4 but it was the High Powered Committee (HPC) which was chaired by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai.
The LAB and KDA have been agitating for past over five years demanding Statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh. The MHA has held several meetings of the HPC and Sub Committee in which decisions on domicile, reservation etc have been taken.
The twin bodies of Ladakh have now pinned hopes on May 22 meeting which is being held after over three and half months.
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