The Ladakh administration has dissolved the Kargil Hill Council with immediate effect after its chief executive councillor, three executive councillors and six other councillors resigned, according to an order issued by the Union territory’s revenue department.
The order was issued late on Wednesday by Shurbir Singh, commissioner-secretary in Ladakh’s revenue department, on the directions of Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena. It declares that the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council in Kargil has been dissolved and terminated with immediate effect.
The order further states that the former chief executive councillor, executive councillors and all elected or nominated members of the council will no longer hold office. They have also been barred from exercising any powers associated with their positions.
The action was taken under the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Act, 1997. The council is a key local institution in Kargil, where elected representatives are responsible for participating in the administration and development of the hill district.
The dissolution comes amid changes to Ladakh’s administrative structure. Parts of the former Kargil district have been separated to create new districts, including Drass, Zanskar and Sankoo. The supplied report does not provide details of the administrative arrangement that will follow the council’s dissolution or specify when a new council will be constituted.
The development removes the existing elected and nominated leadership of the Kargil council at a time when the region’s district boundaries and administrative responsibilities are being reorganised. It also places the council’s previously elected representatives outside the formal decision-making structure with immediate effect.
The order issued by the revenue department is the operative administrative action cited in the report. It specifically confirms the dissolution of the council and prevents the former members from continuing in office or exercising their powers.
