Centre proposes Article 371K to provide special safeguards for Ladakh

Why in News?

The Union government has proposed inserting a new Article 371K in the Constitution to provide special constitutional safeguards for Ladakh. The proposal follows an in-principle understanding between the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and representatives of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) for creating a directly elected Union Territory-level body. The proposed arrangement is intended to provide safeguards relating to land, culture, language, environment, natural resources and other local concerns.

About Article 371 and Proposed Article 371K

Article 371 and Articles 371A–371J are part of Part XXI of the Constitution, which contains special and differentiated constitutional arrangements for particular regions. These provisions reflect India’s approach of asymmetric federalism, under which different regions may receive different constitutional protections based on their historical, social, cultural and administrative circumstances.

The proposed Article 371K would create a sui generis governance framework for Ladakh, which became a Union Territory without a legislature following the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. The proposed directly elected UT-level body is envisaged to have legislative powers over subjects such as land, culture and language, forests, environment and natural resources.

The proposed arrangement is distinct from simply extending an existing state-specific model because Ladakh is a Union Territory without a legislative assembly. The exact distribution of powers between the proposed UT-level body and the existing Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) is still under discussion. The Ladakh administration has stated that representatives have been asked to prepare a draft examining this relationship.

Examples of Special Constitutional Provisions

• Article 371A – Special provisions for Nagaland, including protection of customary practices and land and resource rights.
• Article 371B – Special provisions for Assam.
• Article 371C – Special provisions for Manipur.
• Article 371D – Special provisions relating to Andhra Pradesh.
• Article 371F – Special provisions for Sikkim.
• Article 371G – Special provisions for Mizoram, including protection of its social and religious practices and customary law.
• Article 371J – Special provisions for the Kalyana Karnataka region.

Source: IE

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