Notification issued for election to 8 new LAHDCs in Ladakh

LEH — Notifications were issued on Tuesday for elections to 8 new Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) in the Union Territory.

The notification was issued by the Revenue Department, UT Secretariat, Leh, and published in the extraordinary issue of The Ladakh Gazette.

According to the notification, 8 new LAHDCs had been created in the UT of Ladakh vide S.O. No. 259 dated September 3, 2026 and S.O. No. 285 dated October 16, 2026.

In exercise of powers under sub-section (2) of section 4 of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997 (Act No. XXXI of 1997), read with Rule 4 of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Election) Rules, 2026, Ladakh's Lt Governor has called upon all the constituencies of all LAHDCs in the Union Territory to elect members for the purpose of constituting new Councils.

The notification states that the elections will be held in accordance with the provisions of the 1997 Act, as amended by the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Amendment) Regulation, 2026, and the Rules and Orders made thereunder. The notification has come into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

The Union Territory administration established eight Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) - one for each of the UT's eight districts following the promulgation of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Amendment) Regulation, 2026.

Previously, LAHDCs existed only in Leh and Kargil. The new framework extends autonomous hill councils to all eight districts of Ladakh -- Leh, Kargil, Drass, Sankoo, Sham, Changthang, Nubra, and Zanskar.

Each council consists of between 7 and 24 elected constituencies (replacing the previous uniform size).

Four members per council are to be nominated from women and unrepresented communities to enhance grassroots representation.