Srinagar, Jun 30: The Union Government’s representatives are set to meet leaders of the Ladakh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) on July 2 in Leh to sort out differences that have arisen after the May 22 meeting between the two sides, sources disclosed.
Sources said that a team of representatives from the Centre is likely to meet both bodies spearheading the agitation for constitutional safeguards in Ladakh. “The team is likely to be headed by a senior official in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA),” they said, adding that these will be informal talks, given that formal discussions are held only at the level of the sub-committee and the high-powered committee constituted for Ladakh.
Differences have emerged between the two sides over the minutes of the last sub-committee meeting held in New Delhi on May 22, in which both sides appeared to have built consensus over key issues. After draft minutes of the meeting were shared with LAB and KDA, both bodies alleged that crucial points relating to the primacy of elected representatives over the bureaucracy -agreed upon in the May 22 meeting- were omitted.
Ladakh Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra, however, clarified that the draft record was only intended to facilitate discussion. He said that if anything had been left out, the groups could raise it with him and it would be conveyed to the government.
After the May 22 meeting, LAB and KDA leaders claimed that they had reached an in-principle understanding with the Government of India on restoring democracy in Ladakh and providing constitutional safeguards on the lines of Article 371 A, F, and G.
They had claimed that legislative, executive, and financial powers would rest with elected representatives through a Union Territory-level legislative body. “All bureaucrats of the UT, including the Chief Secretary, will come under the executive head of the UT-level elected body (proposed to be the Chief Minister),” read the joint statement.
