Centre amends Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council rules, fixes 7-24 elected seats

Key facts

• The Centre has amended the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Amendment) Regulation to align the councils with the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, under which the Union territory of Ladakh was created.
• The number of elected seats in each council will be determined by the Ladakh administration, with a minimum of seven and a maximum of 24 seats.
• The administration can nominate up to four members from women and unrepresented communities, subject to a one-sixth limit of the population.
• The sitting Lok Sabha MP representing Ladakh will be an ex-officio member of the councils constituted for each district.
• Each council will have a five-year term from its first meeting, which can be extended if holding elections is considered impracticable.
• The regulation replaces references to 'State' and 'Governor' with 'Union territory of Ladakh' and 'Administrator', respectively.