Ladakh Establishes Seven District Councils and 17 New Tehsils

Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena approved the creation of 17 new tehsils in the Union Territory of Ladakh on July 12, 2026, increasing the total from 15 to 32. This reorganization, executed under the Jammu & Kashmir Land Revenue Act of 1996, follows the creation of five new districts in April 2026. The restructuring aims to eliminate jurisdictional overlap by mapping every revenue village to a single tehsil and every tehsil to a single district, thereby improving service delivery in remote and border regions.

On July 13, Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra expanded the administrative framework by announcing the establishment of an Autonomous Hill Development Council (AHDC) for each of Ladakh's seven districts. This extends the council system, previously limited to Leh and Kargil, to the new districts of Sham, Nubra, Changthang, Zanskar, and Drass. These councils will hold authority over tax levies, land allotment, and land ownership. The administration also proposed a Union Territory-level body with legislative and executive powers under a customized Article 371 framework.

While the government characterized these moves as a step toward democratic decentralization, the Kargil Democratic Alliance expressed caution. Sajjad Kargili stated that the alliance was not consulted prior to the decision and will monitor the implementation, noting that previous councils had been disempowered.