Domicile and reservation policies for Ladakh partially address concerns

Notifications issued on Monday and Tuesday ended — at least temporarily — the six-year-old agitation in Ladakh for jobs, especially gazetted jobs, for locals. The agitation began in 2020 after Ladakhis lost exclusive rights to own immovable property and get government jobs in the region in August 2019, when it was hived off from Jammu and Kashmir, initiating a steady influx of Central government employees and outsiders.

Once it was carved out of J&K in 2019, Ladakh was disconnected from J&K's employment policy, since the latter retained the public service commission. 'Over the last six years, no gazetted posts have been notified in Ladakh and nearly all recruitment is being done on contract basis', was one of the key grievances.

The announcement of the domicile policy and 85 per cent reservation for Scheduled Tribes in government jobs in Ladakh, up from 80 per cent even as over 90 per cent of the population currently comprises tribals, partially addresses the concerns.

For the first time, the Union government has also reserved one-third of seats for women in the two autonomous hill councils of Ladakh and Kargil. The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Amendment) Regulation, 2025 provides “one-third reservation for women” through rotation of constituencies in the local area hill development councils in Leh and Kargil. While the hill councils play a key role in local governance, their powers remain limited, in the absence of Sixth Schedule protection.

Under the new domicile rules, if a person resides in Ladakh for at least 15 years beginning 2019, or has studied in Ladakh for seven years and appeared for their Class 10 or 12 examinations in a local educational institution, they will be eligible for a domicile certificate.

Effectively, this means that outsiders will be considered domiciled in Ladakh only in 2034, 15 years from 2019. This is a climbdown from the earlier demand by Ladakhis that domicile should require a minimum stay of 30 years. In J&K, domicile requires 15 years of stay but there is no cut-off year from when the stay in the UT is to be calculated.

There are also exceptions laid down in the notification for Ladakh. Children of Central government officials, all-India services officers, employees of public sector undertakings, banks, statutory bodies, Central universities and recognised research institutes who have served in Ladakh for a cumulative period of 10 years are also eligible for domicile status.

The domicile criterion determines eligibility for government jobs, with only 5 per cent of gazetted posts open to non-domiciles, ensuring that 85 per cent of these positions are reserved for locals in the general category and 10 per cent for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). Non-gazetted jobs are exclusively reserved for those holding a Ladakh Resident Certificate. The reservation for EWS remains at 10 per cent.

While 80 per cent vacancies will be reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) including communities such as Balti, Beda, Bot, Brokpa, Changpa, and Purigpa, an additional 4 per cent are reserved for residents along the Line of Actual Control/Line of Control, and 1 per cent for Scheduled Castes. This is substantively different from other UTs or states where STs are a minority compared to the rest of the population.

The Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) have been demanding statehood and inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution for tribal autonomy, job reservations, and separate parliamentary seats for Leh and Kargil.

The Sixth Schedule, which grants autonomous councils to tribal areas, is seen as critical for empowering local hill councils to regulate land, forests, and cultural matters, protecting Ladakh’s fragile ecosystem and tribal heritage. The notifications do not address these demands, leaving room for both agitation and negotiation in future.

"Something is better than nothing," said Sajjad Kargili of the KDA. Cherring Dorjay Lakruk, president of the Ladakh Buddhist Association and co-convenor of LAB, echoed the sentiment, pointing out that the 2019 baseline for domicile eligibility provides time to consolidate benefits for locals. However, for both LAB and KDA, statehood and Sixth Schedule status remain core demands. Thupstan Chhewang, LAB chairman and former BJP MP, highlighted the lack of a public service commission due to Ladakh’s status as a Union Territory without a legislature.

Domicile is a touchy issue even in J&K, with local residents worried about 'outsiders' taking over land and jobs. Responding to a question in the last session of the J&K Assembly in April, the government said over 83,000 domicile certificates had been issued to “non-state subjects” since August 2019. As a result, West Pakistan refugees, safai karamcharis and children of women married outside J&K became eligible for domicile.