Lieutenant Governor approves creation of 5 new districts in Ladakh

• Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena approved the creation of five new districts in the Union Territory.

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

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

• With the creation of new districts Ladakh will now have seven districts.

• Creation of new districts, apart from bringing governance closer to citizens, will create new avenues for growth, employment and entrepreneurship, LG Saxena said.

• The Centre bifurcated the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir into two Union territories — Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh — on August 5, 2019, when it also abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to the erstwhile state. 

• After being declared a Union Territory, Ladakh came under the direct administrative control of the Union Home Ministry. 

• Ladakh is the largest Union Territory in terms of area but the second least populous. 

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

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)