Tribal-Area Status Demanded by Ladakh Leaders

Prominent leaders of Ladakh have made a fervent appeal to theCentre to declare the region a tribal area under the sixth schedule of theConstitution. The leaders said that the biggest concern for its people is toprotect their land and identity.

Though locals fear the influx of outsiders although they havewelcomed the Centre's decision to revoke Article 370 and make Ladakh a UnionTerritory. They fear that the outsiders would lead to a change in the region'sdemography, jeopardize their culture and identity.

Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal submitted a memorandum tothe Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda saying that the region is apredominantly tribal area with tribals making up to 98 percent of itspopulation.

He further said that after the Centre announced its decisionto make Ladakh a Union Territory, the biggest concern of the tribal populationhere is to protect their identity, culture, land and economy.

Namgyal further appealed the tribal affairs minister to makea representation to Home Minister Amit Shah on their behalf to protect thedemography and culture of Ladakh. He also appealed to Munda to declare it atribal area under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to protect the interestsof its people.

Namgyal said that many tribal schemes could not be implemented in Ladakh under the Jammu and Kashmir government adding that scholarships, hostels and schools for tribals are not developed.

According to Article 244 and the sixth schedule, tribal-dominated areas in four states — Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram — are called "tribal areas", which are technically different from the "scheduled areas" under the Fifth Schedule.