Government Formed Committee to Protect Ladakh Culture, Language & Employment

Tags: committee

Recently a high-powered committee has been formed to discuss measures to protect Ladakh's unique culture, language & employment in the Union Territory of Ladakh.

An overview of the news 

• A 17 member committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai. 

• Members of the High powered committee - Ladakh Lieutenant Governor RK Mathur, MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, Chairmans of Leh and Kargil Hill councils, representatives of Apex Body Leh, Kargil Democratic Alliance and nominee officials of Home ministry.

• The committee will discuss the preservation of culture and language in view of the geographical location and strategic importance of Ladakh.

• Apart from this, measures related to security of land and employment for people, inclusive growth, employment generation and empowerment of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil will also be discussed.

Need for the committee

• There has been increasing demand for the inclusion of Ladakh under the 6th Schedule.

• Civil society groups in Ladakh have been demanding security of land, resources and employment for the last three years.

• The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has recommended that the Union Territory of Ladakh be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

• The main reason behind the demand is that more than 90% of Ladakh's population consists of tribals.

• Communities like the Drokpa, Balti and Changpa in the Ladakh region have many distinctive cultural heritages, which need to be preserved and promoted.

Sixth Schedule of the Constitution

• The Sixth Schedule under Article 244 of the Constitution protects the autonomy of tribal populations by creation of Autonomous Development Councils.

• It can legislate on land, public health and agriculture.

• Currently, ten autonomous councils exist in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.