None of 1,275 gazetted posts in Ladakh filled since 2019, Centre tells parliamentary panel

None of the 1,275 gazetted posts in Ladakh have been filled since August 2019, when the region was turned into a Union territory, the Centre has told a parliamentary panel, reported The Hindu on Friday.

A total of 3,596 non-gazetted posts were also vacant in various departments, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs told the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs in a report tabled on March 10.

It added that recruitment to 3,172 posts was done through the Staff Selection Commission, Autonomous Hill Development Subordinate Services Recruitment Board, Leh and Kargil, and the Ladakh Police Board, among other departments.

On August 5, 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government rescinded the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the state into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

This, along with the lack of a legislature in Ladakh, has led to increasing insecurities among the residents of Ladakh about their land, nature, resources and livelihoods and stoked fears that the region’s cultural identity and fragile ecosystem may be in jeopardy.

In the last five years, the Union territory has seen several protests over jobs and lack of employment opportunities, according to The Hindu.

In October, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk started an indefinite fast, demanding statehood for Ladakh, its...

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