Overview
- The Ladakh administration rolled back the Excise Policy 2026–27 to the 2025–26 rules after a meeting on Tuesday, restoring the earlier licensing framework.
- Officials told the meeting that only one retail liquor vend is currently functional while bar licences have risen to 40 following 17 new approvals this year.
- Women’s groups from Buddhist and Muslim communities have led sustained protests demanding a complete ban on liquor, staging sit-ins and pressing the administration for a dry UT.
- Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra urged broad consultations, warned that blanket prohibition can spur illicit liquor and drugs as seen in other states, and called for a negotiated ‘middle path’.
- The dispute forces a choice between regulating alcohol for a tourism-dependent economy and protecting local public health and cultural norms, and officials say larger stakeholder talks will follow to seek consensus.