Union Territory of Ladakh gets five new districts

The Central government on Monday, 26 August, announced the creation of five new districts in the Union Territory of Ladakh.

"The new districts, namely Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra and Changthang, will take the benefits meant for the people to their doorsteps by bolstering governance in every nook and cranny," said Union home minister Amit Shah.

Notably, Ladakh currently has only two districts — Leh and Kargil — both governed by their autonomous district councils. After the creation of the new districts, Ladakh will now have seven districts in total.

Ladakh was made a UT after the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two UTs on 5 August 2019. The other UT is Jammu and Kashmir.

According to a report in the Economic Times, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is preparing for its first elections since the abrogation of Article 370. Polling will occur in three phases on 18 and 25 September and 1 October. The vote counting is scheduled for 4 October.

On that day five years ago, Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state, was also abrogated. As a UT, Ladakh comes under the direct administrative control of the Union home ministry.

With agency inputs