MHA, Ladakh bodies reach consensus after 3-hour meeting in Leh

THe Leh solar apex personify ( science laboratory) and the Kargil popular confederation (KDA), the two civil society organisations spearheading Ladakh’s agitation for statehood with legislature and constitutional guarantees under the Sixth Schedule, signed off on the minutes of the May 22 sub-committee meeting on Friday, following a three-hour meeting in Leh chaired by Ladakh chief secretary Ashish Kundra, after weeks of disagreement over a clause on officers’ performance appraisals.LAB had refused to sign the May 22 minutes after a clause on control over officers’ Annual Performance Appraisal Reports (APARs) was left out. The dispute is part of a broader negotiation that has been strained since September 24, when a Leh protest turned violent, four people were killed in police firing, and talks were suspended for weeks.A two-member panel comprising additional secretary Prashant Lokhande and Anurag Kumar, special director, IB, in-charge of J&K and Ladakh affairs, held talks from noon for three hours with the two bodies on Friday to finalise the minutes.Chering Dorjay Lakrook, former minister and co-convenor of LAB, said all attendees — representatives of LAB, KDA, and government officials — signed the May 22 minutes.“It appears that things are moving in the right direction but we don’t know what happens next,” Lakrook said, adding that home ministry officials had not yet given a date for the next official meeting.“Today, we had a marathon meeting and had detailed discussion on sticking points, especially on minutes of the last meeting (May 22). Eventually a consensus evolved and finally we signed on the copy of the minutes of meeting,” he said.Lakrook said the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere and “almost turned up as per their hopes.”“From government side, it tried to accommodate most of our sentiments and finally we evolved a consensus. On safeguards under Article 371, it has clauses A to J but the government added one more thing to it and stated that there can be even better option. It’s there in the minutes,” he said.The controversy over APAR has “almost been cleared,” Lakrook said, adding that LAB and KDA were satisfied with the now-signed minutes.Asked whether MHA officials produced the government’s draft proposal, Lakrook said the ministry had not yet completed it. “However, our draft proposal prepared by the LAB is complete and is with us but we need to sit with KDA, seek opinion of experts and make requisite rectifications. Then only we will submit it to the government,” he said.Ladakh chief secretary Ashish Kundra said in a post on X: “Today’s meeting in Leh with political leaders of ABL and KDA along with senior officers of MHA was held in a positive and constructive spirit. It ended on a note of optimism, with a consensus on the broad framework as agreed in the last meeting of 22nd May in New Delhi.”In the minutes of the fifth sub-committee meeting on the high-powered committee on Ladakh, held on May 22, the home ministry had outlined a probable structure of self-governance for the region. Ladakh’s representatives had reiterated demands for statehood and Sixth Schedule status, a Ladakh Administrative and Police Service, and withdrawal of cases arising from the September 24, 2025 incident. They also sought bureaucratic accountability to the elected government.It was agreed that for subjects under the purview of the UT-level elected body, control and supervision over civil servants — including APARs — would be exercised by the elected executive. This was the clause LAB felt had been diluted or omitted in the drafted minutes, which held up sign-off until Friday.