LEH: Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Vinai Kumar Saxena has approved a notification for the creation of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) in all seven districts of the Union Territory, extending the elected local governance framework beyond Leh and Kargil.
The move follows the Central Government’s decision announced on July 13, 2026, to establish autonomous hill councils in all districts of Ladakh.
With the approval, LAHDCs will be constituted in Leh, Kargil, Sham, Nubra, Changthang, Zanskar and Drass. The elected local self-governance system, previously limited to Leh and Kargil districts, will now be extended to the five newly created districts.
According to the notification issued by the Revenue Department of the Union Territory of Ladakh, elections to the newly constituted councils will be conducted after a formal notification is issued under Section 8 of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997.
Officials said the expansion of the council system is intended to strengthen district-level governance and increase public participation in local planning and development processes.
The notification will come into effect from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
While the term of the Hill Council in Leh ended on October 30, 2025, the Hill Council in Kargil still had more than two years left in its five-year tenure.
Sources in the administration said that the term of the Hill Council Kargil has automatically ended, as the latest notification supersedes all previous notifications regarding the constitution of Hill Development Councils in Ladakh.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997 (Act No. XXXI of 1997), as amended from time to time and in supersession of all previous notifications in this regard, the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Ladakh hereby constitutes the following Autonomous Hill Development Councils for the respective districts of the Union Territory of Ladakh for the purposes specified under the said Act…,” reads the notification.
As per the notification, the seven Councils shall exercise such powers and perform such functions as are conferred or assigned to them under the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997.
The new Councils have been established at a time when the Apex Body Leh and the Kargil Democratic Alliance are engaged in talks with the Union Government over various political and constitutional issues.
