385 Ladakhi cops to be transferred back home

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 20

The government has set in motion the process of transferring 385 police personnel who are natives of Ladakh and serving the Jammu and Kashmir divisions of the existing state back to the place of their origin. They would eventually become part of the staff members in the new Union Territory, which will come into existence on October 31.

Government sources said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has given its approval to transfer the personnel working in different wings of the J&K Police and posted in the Jammu and Kashmir divisions.

“Approval has been given for the transfer of about 385 Ladakhi-origin police personnel to Ladakh and they will function under the new UT, which will eventually come into existence on October 31,” a senior MHA official said.

The police personnel will work with the Ladakh UT Police, which will be under the direct control of the MHA.

The police personnel — from the rank of constable to inspector — will also get the pay and perks on a par with their counterparts in UTs like Chandigarh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The police and law and order in the UT of Ladakh will be under the direct control of the Lieutenant Governor, through whom the Central Government will administer the high-altitude region.

According to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, Ladakh will not have a Legislative Assembly.

The Act says cadres of IAS and IPS for the existing state of Jammu and Kashmir, on and from the appointed day (October 31), shall continue to function on existing cadres.

However, in future, the All-India service officers to be posted to UTs of Jammu and Kashmir or Ladakh shall be from the Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram, Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, more popularly known as UT cadre.

On August 5, the Central Government announced doing away with the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and its bifurcation into two UTs — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.