Demand to include Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule

Apprehensions from Ladakh, post Article-370 abrogation, on protecting their identity.

Demand to include Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule

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• The story: News emerged in December 2021 that the representatives of Ladakh were demanding its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule, to safeguard land, employment and cultural history, as per constitutional provisions. 
• UT already: Since Ladakh has got the status of a Union Territory already, why would its representatives now demand the ambit of a constitutional provision that allows for the creation of autonomous councils? The BJP MP from Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal has demanded that the region be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to safeguard land, employment, and cultural identity of the local population. 
• Shutdown for statehood: MP Mr Namgyal made the demand after Ladakh observed a shutdown to press for statehood. Representatives of the region have raised the demand repeatedly since the constitutional changes in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.
• The Sixth Schedule: The Sixth Schedule - under Article 244 - provides for the formation of autonomous administrative divisions — Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) — that have some legislative, judicial, and administrative autonomy within a state.

1. ADCs have up to 30 members with a term of five years, and can make laws, rules and regulations with regard to land, forest, water, agriculture, village councils, health, sanitation, village- and town-level policing, inheritance, marriage and divorce, social customs and mining, etc. The Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam is an exception with more than 40 members and the right to make laws on 39 issues.
2. The Sixth Schedule applies to the Northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram (three Councils each), and Tripura (one Council).

• Why Ladakh wants it: There was much enthusiasm initially, mostly in Leh, after the August 5, 2019 decisions that created two new Union Territories. The Buddhist-dominated Leh district had long demanded UT status because it felt neglected by the erstwhile state government, which was dominated by politicians from Kashmir and Jammu. At that time, in jubiliation, MP Namgyal had said that it was due to Article 370 that the development of the region was lost. He praised the PM for meeting the aspirations of Ladakhi people. Soon, the happiness evaporated as it was understood that while the UT of J&K would have a legislature, the UT of Ladakh would not. 

1. There had been four MLAs from the region in the erstwhile J&K Assembly; the administration of the region is now completely in the hands of bureaucrats. 
2. To many in Ladakh, the government now looks even more distant than Srinagar. Also, the changed domicile policy in Jammu and Kashmir has raised fears in the region about its own land, employment, demography, and cultural identity.
3. The UT has two Hill councils in Leh and Kargil, but neither is under the Sixth Schedule. Their powers are limited to collection of some local taxes such as parking fees and allotment and use of land vested by the Centre.
4. Now Namgyal, a member of the Leh Apex Body, has urged the government in Lok Sabha to amend the Ladakh Hill Development Council Act, and define “what will be the role and responsibility of the central government, the UT administration and the Lieutenant Governor”.

• Bigger demand: A coalition of social, religious, and political representatives in Leh and Kargil has gone beyond the Sixth Schedule and demanded full statehood for Ladakh, besides protection of land and jobs for locals. The region observed a complete shutdown on Monday to press these demands; a similar bandh had been observed in August during a visit of MoS Home Nityanand Rai to Leh. Separately, in Kargil district, dominated by Shia Muslims, demands have been raised for the restoration of special status — also for a merger with the UT of J&K which has been provisioned a legislature. Representatives of social, religious, and political groups in Kargil have come together under the banner of the KDA.
• Is it even possible: In September 2019, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes recommended the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, noting that the new UT was predominantly tribal (more than 97%), people from other parts of the country had been restricted from purchasing or acquiring land there, and its distinct cultural heritage needed preservation.

1. No region outside the Northeast has been included in the Sixth Schedule. In fact, even in Manipur, which has predominantly tribal populations in some places, the autonomous councils are not included in the Sixth Schedule. Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, which are totally tribal, are also not in the Sixth Schedule.
2. Ladakh’s inclusion in the Sixth Schedule would be difficult. The Constitution is very clear that Sixth Schedule is for the Northeast. For tribal areas in the rest of the country, there is the Fifth Schedule.
3. However, it remains the prerogative of the government — it can, if it so decides, bring a Bill to amend the Constitution for this purpose.
4. The Centre woke up to the anxieties of the region when, a year after the abrogation of Article 370, all political parties in Leh, including the BJP, announced a boycott of the LAHDC-Leh elections. They called off the boycott after a meeting with Shah in New Delhi, at which they were promised “Sixth Schedule-like” protections. In January '21, the MHA announced that a committee under then MoS Home G Kishan Reddy would be formed to address “the issues related to language of Ladakh, culture of Ladakh and conservation of land in Ladakh”. In July, Reddy promised KDA representatives that representatives of Kargil would be included in the committee. In August, MoS Home Rai assured representatives of Kargil and Leh that the government was committed to look into their concerns. Not much has happened since.

• Summary: The truth emerges when rubber meets the road, not before that. People of Ladakh are learning it the hard way.
• EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain the new apprehensions of Ladakhi people, pertaining to their identity in the new UT system. (2) What are the differences between the Sixth and Fifth Schedule provisions? Analyse. (3) What have been the pros and cons of the Article 370 change in India? Explain.

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