LEH, July 13: In a landmark administrative reform, Lieutenant Governor, Vinai Kumar Saxena, has approved a comprehensive reorganisation and rationalisation of Tehsils and Revenue Villages, following the creation of five new districts in the Union Territory of Ladakh.
Under this reorganisation, 17 new Tehsils have been created in Ladakh, taking the total number of Tehsils to 32, from the existing 15. This exercise aims at operationalising the new districts, while bringing public services to the doorsteps of the people, thereby, strengthening governance at the grassroots.
The new Tehsils have been created on the recommendations of a UT-Level Committee constituted by the LG, following the notification of the new districts on April 27 this year. The Committee observed serious lacunae in the existing administrative units, including Tehsils and Revenue Villages, as they were not clearly demarcated. The Committee found that boundaries of several Tehsils extended across more than one district, resulting in administrative overlap and operational challenges.
To address these issues, every Revenue Village has now been mapped to a single Tehsil and every Tehsil to a single district, thereby creating a transparent, logical and efficient administrative structure while ensuring that no changes are made to the territorial boundaries of any district. The decision, therefore, establishes a clear and streamlined revenue administrative framework for the newly created districts and would significantly improve administrative efficiency, public service delivery and local governance. The LG has also directed the Chief Secretary to immediately appoint Tehsildars in these new Tehsils, with one officer being assigned the independent charge of a Tehsil, in order to increase administrative efficiency.
Following the reorganisation, Leh District will comprise 05 Tehsils; Kargil District 07 Tehsils; Changthang District 04 Tehsils; Nubra District 06 Tehsils; Zanskar District 04 Tehsils; Sham District 05 Tehsils; while Drass District will have one Tehsil.
“With the operationalisation of these districts, we are establishing a robust administrative framework that will significantly improve revenue administration, strengthen grassroots governance and ensure faster implementation of developmental programmes,” LG Saxena said.