Sonam Wangchuk thanks PM Modi, Amit Shah for Ladakh’s 5 new districts; reminds Centre of 6th schedule promise

Sonam Wangchuk, a climate activist and a member of the Leh Apex Body, on Monday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah for announcing the creation of five new districts in Ladakh.

With these new districts, the number of districts in Ladakh have risen to seven in a decision welcomed by local people as fulfilment of their long-pending demand. The new districts are: Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra, and Changthang.

"I am thankful to home minister and Modi government on behalf of the people of Ladakh for announcing five new districts to Ladakh which was a long pending demand of the people, especially Zanskar region," said Wangchuk said in a video post on X (formerly Twitter).

The climate activist also said the decision is in accordance with the promise made by the BJP to the people of these areas but "we have to see whether these are just administrative districts or democratic units wherein they have autonomous district councils like Leh and Kargil".

He also reminded the BJP of its promise of extending sixth schedule of the Constitution to the region and said the government must address the primary demand of the people for safeguards otherwise the struggle of the locals would continue.

Ladakh: The largest union territory

Leh and Kargil were the only two districts in Ladakh, the largest union territory in terms of area but the second least populous. It has an expanse of 86,904 square kilometers bordering China and Pakistan, with a population of 2.74 lakh according to the 2011 census.

Ladakh was carved out of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and declared a UT after the state was divided into two UTs on August 5, 2019.

On that day five years ago, Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state, was also abrogated. Being a UT, Ladakh comes under the direct administrative control of the union home ministry.

Amit Shah said the Modi government is committed to creating abundant opportunities for the people of Ladakh.

Prime Minister Modi hailed the creation of the new districts as a step towards better governance and prosperity.

Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra, and Changthang will now receive more focused attention, bringing services and opportunities even closer to people, he said, congratulating them.

(With PTI inputs)