On November 24, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs took away significant financial decision-making powers from Ladakh’s Lieutenant Governor and its senior administration officials.
The power to grant approval to schemes or projects in Ladakh up to Rs 100 crore will now lie with the Union home ministry, according to a detailed order, and not the Lieutenant Governor.
Moreover, while the union territory’s top bureaucrats like administrative secretaries could sanction projects up to Rs 20 crore, that power too now lies with the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Even officials like chief engineers and district magistrates, who could grant financial sanction for works between Rs 3 crore and Rs 10 crore, will no longer enjoy those powers.
The order also curbs the financial powers of the two elected hill councils in Ladakh – one each in Leh and Kargil – to sanction works up to Rs 5 crore.
These powers had been delegated to Ladakh by the Ministry of Home Affairs after it was carved out as a separate union territory in 2019.
While the government’s rationale behind the move is to ensure transparency and better coordination for the region’s development, the order is being seen as yet another attempt by New Delhi to disempower the cold desert region.
“How will a bureaucrat sitting in New Delhi...
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