Ladakh Division to be headquartered in Leh and Kargil: Governor

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Photo: Raj Bhavan

Governor, Satya Pal Malik today met the All Party Co-ordination Committee members from Kargil district to understand and resolve the concerns of the people of Kargil regarding the newly formed Ladakh Division.

The Co-ordination Committee Members in the delegation were Haji Anayat Ali, Chairman Legislative Council; Shri Feroz Khan, Chairman/ Chief Executive Councilor, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil; Haji Asgar Ali Karbali, Ex-MLA, Congress; Haji Qamar Ali Akhoon, Former Minister and Leader of National Conference; Haji Nissar Ali, Ex-Minister Congress;  Aga Syed Baqir, Ex-MLA, Zanaskar; Agha Syed Ali Rizvi, Ex-MLC, National Conference; Haji Hanifa Jan, District President, National Conference; Mohd. Assadullah, District President, PDP and Mohd. Hassan Pasha, BJP, Kargil.

After listening patiently to all the delegation members and understanding the  feelings and sentiments of the people Kargil, the Governor announced the following decisions to meet the aspirations of Kargil:

a.   The newly created Administrative/ Revenue Division of Ladakh will have its headquarters jointly at Leh and Kargil. There will be offices at both places in Leh and Kargil. Two Additional Divisional Commissioners will be posted, one each in Leh and Kargil. The Divisional Commissioner and IG will spend half their time in Kargil and half in Leh. The periodicity of this will be determined by the Committee at (b) below. The SRO will be revised accordingly.

b.   The Committee constituted by SAC under the Principal Secretary (Planning) will examine and report on the following:

i.             The periodicity of the Divisional Commissioner’s and IG’s sitting at Leh/ Kargil-weekly, fortnightly, etc.

ii.            Identify the posts of Divisional Level heads of various departments that may be required for the new Ladakh Division, their equitable locations at Kargil/ Leh and their staffing pattern.

iii.           Any other measures as necessary.

The Committee will submit its report by 24.02.2019.

c.   The State government will immediately provide Rs. 200 crores from the JKIDFC/ other sources to a separate account to convert the Kargil airport to a full-fledged civilian airport which can handle medium body jets like Boeing and Airbus.

d.   The Secretary (Ladakh Affairs) will constantly engage with LAHDC, Kargil and other peoples’ representatives to improve the development prospects of Kargil.

The Co-ordination Committee welcomed the Hon’ble Governor’s decision and agreed to call off all demonstrations in Kargil.

The Governor welcomed the decision of the Co-ordination Committee and complimented them for the peaceful nature of their demonstration and said this is a hallmark of our democracy.