Indian Polity & Constitution
In News: Several political groups in Ladakh have been demanding Statehood and possible inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, on the lines of Jammu & Kashmir.
- In 2021, Ladakh’s only member in the Lok Sabha, the BJP’s Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, demanded constitutional safeguards by amending the Ladakh Autonomous Hill District Council (LAHDC) Act for the protection of land, employment, and the cultural identity of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule
The Sixth Schedule:
- It is under Article 244
- It applies to Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram (three Councils each), and Tripura (one Council).
- It provides for the formation of autonomous administrative divisions — Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) — that have some legislative, judicial, and administrative autonomy within a state.
- ADCs have up to 30 members with a term of five years.
- ADCs 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,
- The Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam is an exception with more than 40 members and the right to make laws on 39 issues.
- Aim: protects tribal population and inclusion in socio-economic development.
Ladakh’s situation:
- The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs tabled a report in the Rajya Sabha which said that, according to the 2011 Census, the tribal population in the Union Territory of Ladakh is 2,18,355, that is 61% of the total population of 2,74,289.
- Ladakh administration had recently increased the reservation for Scheduled Tribes in direct recruitment from 10% to 45%.
- The committee recommended that special status may be granted to the Union Territory of Ladakh considering the developmental requirements of the tribal population.
- The Committee further recommends that the possibility of including Ladakh in fifth or sixth Schedule may be examined.
Source: The Hindu
Previous Year Questions
Q.1) If a particular area is brought under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India, which one of the following statements best reflects the consequence of it? (2020)
- This would prevent the transfer of land of tribal people to non-tribal people.
- This would create a local self-governing body in that area.
- This would convert that area into a Union Territory.
- The State having such areas would be declared a Special Category State.
