Why it is in the news
The Ministry of Home Affairs has proposed inserting a new Article 371K into the Constitution to give Ladakh special constitutional safeguards. The proposal was placed before the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) at a sub-committee meeting in New Delhi on 9 September 2026. It envisages a directly elected UT-level body with legislative, executive, financial and planning powers, and law-making authority over land, culture and language, forests, environment and natural resources.
The exam angle
Issue: Can a bespoke Article 371 provision reconcile Ladakh's demands for land, cultural and democratic safeguards with the Centre's security and fiscal concerns in a strategic border Union Territory, and is it a durable alternative to statehood or the Sixth Schedule?