The Historic decision of August 2019 by the Union government to bifurcate the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories i.e. the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir with legislature and the union territory of Ladakh without legislature was welcomed by locals of the Ladakh area. It was one of their demand to grant the status of Union territory.

Currently in the UT cadre, the leaders of Ladakh are found to be the least politically represented in the current bureaucratic setup, even the locals are more concerned about the new legislation that permits outsiders to start business in the region and settle in the area.

According to locals if they have Statehood, then their government will benefit them by making policies that are favorable both economically and culturally for Ladakh.

Now there are four basic demands of the Ladakh people:

· Statehood for Ladakh

· Include Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution

· Separate public service commission for Ladakh

· Two parliamentary seats for Ladakh.

Demography and potential of Ladakh:

Now as per the data from the 2011 census, the population of Ladakh is 274,289 and the density of the population is 4.6/

.

Ladakh has a very high potential for natural resources like Borax, Marble of good quality even limestone of cement grade, and many more. Due to their abundance, these are mined and mining causes damage.

Analysis of demands:

People are demanding for inclusion of Ladakh in the 6th schedule, this schedule talks about the administration in tribal areas of the northeast states of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, and Mizoram. It provides limited autonomy to tribal regions so that they can conserve their rights, culture, and ethnicity.

Now these states are provided with autonomous District councils that takes the important decisions of their areas of their own.

The government's stance at this point is very clear that they will not provide 6th schedule status to Ladakh as if it is approved, it will attract protests for inclusion in the same 6th schedule by other northeastern states.