What is new in Ladakh’s government job reservation policy? | Explained Premium

New regulations in Ladakh provide 95% government job reservation, language policies, and hill council composition changes.

The story so far:

On June 3, President Droupadi Murmu notified four Regulations for the Union Territory (U.T.) of Ladakh, defining new policies on reservation, languages, domiciles, and composition of hill councils for Ladakh, which became a Union Territory in 2019. The notified regulations were The Ladakh Official Languages Regulation, 2025; The Ladakh Civil Services Decentralisation and Recruitment (Amendment) Regulation, 2025; The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Amendment) Regulation, 2025; and The Union Territory of Ladakh Reservation (Amendment) Regulation, 2025.

The Regulations pave the way for 85% reservation for resident Ladakhis in government jobs. The Rules notified empowered the tehsildar to issue the domicile certificates. To be considered “domiciles” and thus eligible for the 5% quota in government jobs in the U.T., non-local residents must prove a continuous 15-year stay in the U.T. starting from October 31, 2019. Added with the 10% quota for the Economically Weaker Sections, the total government job reservation in the U.T. now stands at 95%, one of the highest in the country.

According to the 2011 Census, Ladakh’s population is 2,74,289, and nearly 80% are tribals. The U.T. has a majority Buddhist population in Leh and a sizeable Muslim population in Kargil.

Another recently notified policy said that at least one-third of the seats in the hill councils of Leh will be reserved for women, on a rotational basis across jurisdictions, and the official languages of the U.T. will be English, Hindi, Urdu, Bhoti, and Purgi.

After the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution was read down on August 5, 2019, the former State was split into two Union Territories — J&K and Ladakh, the latter without a legislative Assembly. After initial euphoria, the Ladakhi civil society groups began protests demanding protection of land, resources, and employment. Concerns arising out of big businesses and outsiders acquiring land and jobs led people to protest and observe shutdowns. Cutting across party lines, locals and a former BJP MP demanded restoration of protection as granted under Article 35A of the Constitution, which was revoked with Article 370 in 2019. Article 35A lets the J&K legislature decide the “permanent residents” in the former State, prohibits a non-J&K resident from buying property, and ensures job reservation for its residents.

In 2020, the People’s Movement for Constitutional Safeguard or the Leh Apex Body (LAB) was formed, backed by the powerful Ladakh Buddhist Association. In 2021, the LAB and the Kargil Democratic Alliance came together to fight for constitutional safeguards for the region. Together, they came up with four key demands: inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution (giving tribal status and autonomy over land), Statehood, separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts, and filling of existing government vacancies.