President Amends Ladakh Reservation and Language Laws via Ordinance

President Droupadi Murmu has issued a series of ordinances to amend the rules and regulations for the Union Territory of Ladakh, changing its official language policy, reservation in government jobs and domicile requirements and providing one-third quota for women in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council.

The Union Territory of Ladakh has no legislative assembly, and the President has the executive power of Ladakh. 

Exercising her executive power, the President issued these ordinances.

These Ordinances were notified by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice in the official Gazette.

Ordinance on Ladakh Official Languages Regulation 2025

• The ordinance made English, Hindi, Urdu, Bhoti and Purgi the official languages of the Union territory of Ladakh.
• Before the promulgation of the ordinance, only English was the official language of Ladakh since its creation on 31st October 2019.

Union Territory of Ladakh Reservation (Amendment) Regulation, 2025

The ordinance amended sections 3, 5, 6, and 9 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004.

• The maximum reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backwards Classes (OBC) in government jobs in Ladakh shall not be more than  85%.
• A separate 10 % reservation has been provided for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
• The reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backwards Classes (OBC) in the professional education institutions in Ladakh have increased from 50 % to 85%.
• In Professional educational institutions, the reservation for the EWS has been fixed at 10%.

Provisions of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (Amendment ) Regulation Rules, 2025

The ordinance amended the  Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Act of 1997.

It provides for;

One-third of the seats shall be reserved for women in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil through rotation. 

This means one-third of the seats will be reserved for women in Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh, and next time, one-third will be reserved in Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil.

Ladakh has two districts, Leh and Kargil.

The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh, was established in 1995. Out of the 30-member council, 26 are elected, and 4 are nominated from the minority and women.

The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil, came into existence in July 2003.

It consists of 30 members, of whom 26 were elected from territorial constituencies while 4 are nominated from minority communities and women.

Domicile Requirement for Government Jobs

The President also issued the Ladakh Civil Services Decentralisation and Recruitment (Amendment) Regulation, 2025 ordinance that defines the domicile criteria for government jobs in the Union territory of Ladakh.

This regulation makes domicile requirements mandatory for the first time for recruitment in government posts.

Domicile criteria ;

• A person who has been resident for at least 15 years in Ladakh; or 
• a person who has studied for 7 years and appeared in either Class 10 or 12 examinations in Ladakh; 
• Children of Central Government employees who have served at least 10 years in Ladakh; 
• Children and spouses of the domiciled.

Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh: B D Mishra