Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs has given ‘in-principal approval’ for the formation of five new districts in Ladakh, taking the total number of districts in the Union Territory to seven.
The move, aimed at improving governance and development in the region, has been widely discussed and appreciated by various stakeholders.
Which are the newly created districts in Ladakh and the purpose of this move:
Importance:
Ladakh is one of the largest and least populated Union Territories of India. The present administrative structure, which has only two districts – Leh and Kargil – faced challenges in meeting the requirements of its vast and inhospitable terrain.
Due to its large area and inaccessibility, the existing administration faced challenges in reaching the ground level effectively.
The new districts are expected to mitigate these challenges by providing more local administrative units.
The geopolitical importance and strategic location of Ladakh has made it the centre of development efforts aimed at augmenting civil and military infrastructure.
The New districts:
The five newly designated districts are: Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra and Changthang.
After the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, Ladakh was made a Union Territory under the direct administration of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
The purpose of creating these districts is to bring governance closer to the people and to ensure that benefits and services reach even the most remote areas.
Ladakh is part of the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP), which includes significant financing and infrastructure projects aimed at the development of the region.
The creation of new districts will further support these developmental efforts.
The next step:
The Home Ministry has directed the Ladakh administration to constitute a committee to assess various aspects of the new districts, including their headquarters, boundaries, structure and staffing.
The committee will have to submit a detailed report within three months, after which the final proposal will be reviewed by the Union Home Ministry for further action.
Political and Public Reactions:
Political parties questioned whether autonomous hill development councils like the ones in Leh and Kargil would be elected to ensure meaningful local governance in the new districts.
While many have hailed the move, some social activists and former politicians have demanded more political representation and functional autonomy for the new districts to make them effective in local governance.
How to create new districts in India:
The power to create, alter or abolish districts is vested in the state governments, which can be done either through an executive order or by passing a law in the state assembly.
States believe that smaller districts improve governance and administration.
The Centre has no role in the creation or change of districts, but when a state wants to change the name of a district, the Centre has a role in it, because for this it must get approval from many agencies.
Trends in creation of districts:
As per Census 2011, there were 593 districts in India. Between 2001-2011, 46 new districts were created by the States.
As of 2024, there are currently 718 districts in the country, partly after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) in 2014, Telangana had 33 districts and Andhra Pradesh (the state now has 26 districts) had 13 districts.
