MHA creates 5 new districts in Ladakh

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the creation of five new districts in Ladakh, raising their number to seven.

• Leh and Kargil were the only two districts in Ladakh.

• The new districts are: Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra, and Changthang.

• Ladakh was carved out of the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir and declared a Union Territory after the state was divided into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019. 

• Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state, was also abrogated.

• Being a Union Territory, Ladakh comes under the direct administrative control of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

• Ladakh is a very large Union Territory in terms of area. It is one of the least populated areas of India. 

• Ladakh has an expanse of 86,904 square kilometers bordering China and Pakistan, with a population of 2.74 lakh according to the 2011 Census.

• Being extremely difficult and inaccessible, at present the district administration was facing many difficulties in reaching the grassroots level. 

• After the formation of these districts, now all the public welfare schemes of the central government and Ladakh administration will be able to reach the people easily and more and more people will be able to take advantage of them.

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