MHA calls Ladakh leaders for Oct 6 high-powered panel meet in Delhi

Srinagar, Sep 20: In the latest effort to address demands from Ladakh’s political groups, the Ministry of Home Affairs has scheduled a high-powered committee meeting on October 6 in New Delhi, bringing together LAB and KDA representatives, the Union Territory’s Lieutenant Governor, local MP and Hill Council chiefs.

Official sources said that the High Powered Committee headed by MoS Home Nityanand Rai will be held in Delhi on October 6th and will start at 11:00 hours, for which the MHA has sent an invitation to the leadership. It will be the fourth such HPC meeting constituted by the MHA to discuss the issues and demands put forth by the KDA and LAB related to Ladakh.

“The next meeting of the High-Powered Committee (HPC) on Ladakh will be held on 06.10.2025 at 11.00 AM in Conference Hall - 35000-B, 5th Floor, Kartavya Bhavan-3, MHA, New Delhi,” a communication from MHA said.

“We have received an invitation today for the HPC meeting to be chaired by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai in New Delhi on October 6. We welcome the resumption of the stalled dialogue, and during the meeting we will strongly reiterate our demands, including statehood and the 6th schedule for Ladakh,” Sajad Kargili, a member of KDA, told Greater Kashmir. Kargili said that they are hopeful of a positive outcome of the meeting.

Sources told Greater Kashmir that a 14-member delegation of the LAB and KDA will meet the MoS Home Nityanand Rai in Delhi on October 6. The meeting is going to be held on the invitation of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Seven representatives each from LAB and KDA will proceed to New Delhi to attend the Oct 6 meeting. Besides 14 members from LAB and KDA, Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Kavinder Gupta, Lok Sabha Member from Ladakh Mohd Hanifa Jan and both Chairpersons-cum-CECs of Hill Development Councils, Leh and Kargil, have also been called to the meeting on Oct 6. The High Powered Committee meeting is being held after a gap of five months. The last HPC meet was held on May 27th in Delhi.

Pertinently, the four-point agenda of the LAB and KDA includes constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule, statehood for Ladakh, two Lok Sabha seats – one each for Leh and Kargil – and job opportunities for the locals. They have also demanded the constitution of the Public Service Commission (PSC) for Ladakh.

Pertinently, Apex Body Leh (ABL), an amalgam of various social, political and religious organisations, along with known climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, have announced a 35-day fast in Leh which started on September 10th over their demands for Ladakh's inclusion under the Constitution's sixth schedule and statehood.