Overview
- The Union Government approved notifications for LAHDCs across all seven Ladakh districts on Thursday, formalised by a notice signed by the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh.
- The new councils will cover Leh, Kargil, Sham, Nubra, Changthang, Zanskar and Drass, extending the elected hill‑council model that until now applied only to Leh and Kargil.
- The Revenue Department says the notifications come into force on publication in the Official Gazette and that elections will be scheduled in due course after a formal Section 8 notification under the 1997 LAHDC Act.
- Officials framed the move as decentralisation to give districts control over planning, land use and local development, with the Lieutenant Governor thanking national leaders and citing projects such as Hunderman village tourism upgrades as examples.
- The change follows Ladakh’s April 2026 creation of five new districts and builds on the LAHDC Act of 1997; residents can expect more local input on infrastructure, services and livelihoods once elections make the councils operational.