Land identified for building LG Office, Raj Niwas in Leh

Leh: A big chunk of land has been identified in Leh city for construction of a building complex that will house the residence and office of the Lt Governor of Ladakh, the head of the hill development council here has said. Chairman and Chief Executive Councillor of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh (LAHDC-Leh) Gyal P Wangyal also said, "three committees" have been formed to work out the transition of the region from its current administrative set up to a Union Territory. Ladakh currently stands on the cusp of a historic change and on October 31, it will officially get the status of a Union Territory. Earlier this month, the Centre had abrogated special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into UTs - J&K and Ladakh. "The current Jammu and Kashmir administration has constituted three committees to work out the transition - a finance committee, services committee, and another committee to see and examine other requirements needed for a UT," Wangyal said. At present, Ladakh's government offices, tourism department, school boards, college affiliations, police and administrative services, and other establishments and vehicle registrations are linked to the Jammu and Kashmir government. "The committees would examine the process and requirements needed for the transition, as also for distribution of higher officers from the erstwhile state, as presently these officers belong to KAS (Kashmir Administrative Service). Whether we need a Ladakh Administrative Service for that or not, the committees would examine that and other issues, and that should be done before October 31," the CEC of LAHDC-Leh, said.