Five new districts in Ladakh will soon be created after Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena approved the plan on Monday, 27 April. Terming the decision to create five new districts in the Union Territory a “historic day” for Ladakh, the LG said the decision will fulfil the aspirations and long-pending demands of the people of Ladakh.
In a post on X, Vinai Kumar Saxena said, “I have approved the notification for creation of five new districts in Ladakh, fulfilling the aspirations and long-pending demand of the people of Ladakh.”
The new districts that will be created now are Nubra, Sham, Changthang, Zanskar and Drass. With the creation of the five new ones, the Union Territory will now have seven districts. Earlier, Ladakh only had the Leh and Kargil districts.
Ladakh, the largest Union Territory in terms of area but the second least populous, has an expanse of 86,904 square kilometres bordering China and Pakistan, with a population of 2.74 lakh, according to the 2011 census.
“The development is aligned with Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a developed and prosperous Ladakh,” Vinai Kumar Saxena said in the post.
The LG added that this “transformative decision, already approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs in August 2024, under the leadership of Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, would strengthen grassroots governance, decentralise administration & ensure faster delivery of public services to the people of Ladakh, especially those in remote and far-flung areas.”
"Creation of new districts, apart from bringing governance closer to citizens, will create new avenues for growth, employment and entrepreneurship," the Ladakh LG added, as he asserted that aspirations of the people of Ladakh have been fulfilled at last.
He said, “I reaffirm my commitment to ensuring that every citizen of Ladakh benefits from this historic decision, as we move together towards a brighter, stronger and more prosperous future.”
The Centre bifurcated the erstwhile state of J-K into two Union territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh – on 5 August 2019, when it also abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, which had granted special status to the erstwhile state.
After being declared a Union Territory, Ladakh came under the direct administrative control of the Union Home Ministry.
