Thoughts on the Ladakh autonomous hill development council act of 1995

Ladakh, located between Karakoram and Himalaya in the (north-) eastern part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India, was granted a significant measure of autonomy in 1995 through this Act. In effect, far-reaching powers of planning, implementation, and administration with regard to development were transferred from Central and State authorities to a local district level council, called Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (name of district). Only Leh district (named after the capital of the district, predominantly populated by Buddhists) at this time has created such a council. Kargil district, predominantly populated by Muslims, has so far declined the offer (there is no space here for a discussion of the politics around all this. In the remainder of this contribution to the discussion, the author addresses three points: first, to give a quick overview of some of the powers and functions of the council; second, to discuss briefly to what extent this council signifies 'empowerment' of 'local communities'; third, whether this council constitutes much of a change in direction or practice of development. In general, the case of Ladakh raises difficult questions about (local) community, interests, empowerment, and development. The author raises these questions here not to shatter hopes or as an exercise in cynicism, but to put some difficult issues up for discussion.