All jobs in the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh have been reserved for the residents of the region, according to an order issued on Tuesday.
“No person shall be qualified for appointment to the service unless the person is a resident of the UT of Ladakh,” reads the order issued by Lieutenant Governor R.K. Mathur
The new recruitment rules are mentioned in the Clause 11 of the Union Territory of Ladakh Employment (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules, 2021. The order by the L-G was issued by exercising the powers conferred by S.O 282(E) dated 21.01.2020.
The order says this rule shall not apply to persons allotted service in the Union Territory under the provisions of Section 89(2) of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, or such rules as may be prescribed by the administration, it said.
“Persons who have already been appointed substantively to a post in the cadre of J&K Employment (Subordinate) Service and finally allotted for service in Ladakh in accordance with the provisions of Section 89(2) of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, shall be deemed to have been appointed to the Service at the initial constitution.”
The move has met a long-pending demand of the people of Ladakh, after it was carved out as a Union Territory (UT) on August 5, 2019.
“It was our demand since the bifurcation of J&K almost two years ago. It’s a welcome move,” Chief Executive Councilor, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil, Feroz Ahmed Khan told The Hindu.
He said the order has come very late as many unemployed youths have crossed the upper age limit in the past two years. “We will also demand relaxation in the age bar for fresh recruitments,” Mr. Khan said.
He said there should be similar laws on land too. “At present, the state land of the UT comes under twin elected councils, Leh and Kargil. However, private land does not have any protection.”
Plea for legislative powers
Mr. Khan said till the Centre meets the demand of the Sixth Schedule for the Union Territory, it should also grant legislative powers to the twin councils. “We need to frame rules for local governance issues.”
The Centre created two UTs of J&K and Ladakh on August 5, 2019. However, Ladakh is a UT without Assembly. Unlike Ladakh, the recruitment rules framed for J&K earlier allowed all domiciles, even those who have been living in J&K for more than seven years or studying in the UT up to class 12, as eligible to apply for local jobs.
It also allowed West Pakistan refugees, safai karamcharis and children of those women who married non-locals to apply for jobs in J&K. Besides, children and officials of the Central government officials, All India Service officers, public sector undertaking, autonomous body of the Central government, public sector banks, officials of statutory bodies, Central Universities etc., who have served in J&K for 10 years, were also declared eligible for jobs.
