Amending Article 371 to give safeguards, says Ladakh Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra

Mumbai: A day after negotiations between Ladakhi leaders and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) ended inconclusively, Ladakh Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra on Saturday said that Article 371 is being amended to give constitutional safeguards to the region.

"The primary objective is to fulfill the fundamental demands and constitutional protections requested by the people of Ladakh. Article 371 offers such flexibility... a Ladakh-specific provision (akin to Article 371-K) to address regional aspirations. During the previous meeting on October 15, a request was made to share the draft and a 32-page document was shared with the leaders the next day," Kundra said at a press conference in Leh on Saturday.

"I was surprised to see that within two hours of receiving the papers, they were rubbished. And it was said that nothing had happened in it. Nothing had been offered in it," Kundra said.


Earlier this week, Ladakh's leaders had said there were "significant gaps" between the positions of the two sides, with the powers of the proposed elected legislature emerging as the principal sticking point.

Ladakh MP Haji Haneefa Jan, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, Kargil Hill Council Chief Executive Councillor Mohammad Jaffer Akhoon, Kundra and former Leh Hill Council Chief Executive Councillor Tashi Gyalson had attended the meeting.

Kundra on Saturday PC added that the negotiations faced two stumbling blocks, including the question of who would write the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) of the chief secretary.

"We told them that the question of who writes the ACR of the secretary would be covered under the Transaction of Business Rules," he said.

Emphasising the need for further deliberations, Kundra called for patience and mutual trust between the two sides.