Ladakh lieutenant governor directs renewal of expired land leases in region | India News
SRINAGAR: In a major step to address land rights issues in Ladakh, Lieutenant Governor (LG) Binai Kumar Saxena on Tuesday ordered the renewal of expired lease agreements that have been pending in the union territory for several years.Saxena said it would fulfill long-pending demands of Ladakh residents and “give a big relief to a large population of Ladakh, as it gives them legal protection of land titles”.The LG said he has directed the UT Chief Secretary to clear all such pending cases and organize special camps to hand over renewed lease agreements. “The first such camp will be organized on April 15, where renewed lease documents will be handed over to applicants after document verification and license fee processing,” he said.Saxena said the decision marks a major step in strengthening governance, enhancing transparency and bringing much-needed stability and security of tenure to affected families. “Responsive, citizen-centric governance is my top priority,” he added.After the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union Territories of Ladakh and J&K in 2019, the Ladakh administration stopped extending leases to existing leaseholders. Earlier, Article 370 restricted such leases to permanent residents of the erstwhile state, while Article 35A barred outsiders from purchasing property in J&K and Ladakh.Political parties in the region have raised the issue urging the Ladakh administration to formulate a clear policy. In a recent meeting, former chief executive councilor of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (Leh) and BJP’s Tashi Gyalson told chief secretary Asish Kundra that many land-related issues were unresolved, causing serious inconvenience to the public due to the absence of clear titles. He said in several cases, lease agreements issued by LAHDC-Leh have expired without renewal, while in others, no formal lease agreement has been signed despite allocation by the council.
