Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance convened a meeting with Hill Council headed by Gyal P Wangyal, CEC, Hill Council Leh on September 17 at Council Secretariat.

Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, MP Ladakh, Tsering Sandup, Deputy Chairman, Executive Councillors and Councillors were present during the meeting. 

Gyal P Wangyal briefed about the structure and the functioning of Hill Council, Leh since its inception. 

He submitted a ten-point memorandum to the minister demanding exemption and relief in the GST for Ladakh region through reimbursement or refund of the GST for a considered period. Also, requested a package from the Government of India for UT Ladakh to meet its infrastructure requirements and use the resources in Ladakh.

The memorandum reads, “Ladakh region remains cut off from the rest of the country for a major part of the year because of the blockade of all access roads resulting from heavy winter snowfall. Due to long road distances and resultant heavy transportation costs, the cost of services and trade escalates tremendously, thus adversely affecting the revenue margins and savings from such economic activities. The air connectivity to Ladakh is the costliest in the country. The average cost of cargo transport to Ladakh is about Rs.120/- per Kilogram. Moreover, cargo space is rarely available due to the poor availability of air capacity and a limited number of flights. Another feature typical of the Ladakh region is the very narrow economic window. Due to physical constraints, the general economic activities in the region remains confined to merely 4-5 months in a year and are limited to subsistence level. Another major problem faced by the local trade and service sector is the fact that we have to stock all kinds of trading and developmental materials in bulk for nearly six months in advance before the onset of winter, thus blocking capital and loan funds involving huge interest burden. Ladakh is the biggest region of the country in terms of area and vastly spread out across mountains and valleys. Accessibility within the region from the regional centre Leh to different sub-regions and blocks involves travelling and transportation for a minimum of 150–400 Kms. The business operates in Ladakh is still heavily labour intensive, thus leading to higher costs of operation.”

Executive Councillors, MP Ladakh and Councillors also projected various demands and issues. They informed the minister that the total district budget including all the centrally sponsored schemes of GoI does not go beyond ₹ 114 crores for Hill Council, Leh till date. They further requested his intervention in allocating funds through various ministries.

Anurag Singh Thakur said that his main purpose of the two-day visit to Ladakh is to assess the ground reality by meeting with all the stakeholders. 

He asked Hill Council, Leh, to identify important and potential sectors based on which focus approach will be given through relevant ministries. 

An official meeting of all the concerned ministries of GoI will be convened soon to address the issues and demands of UT Ladakh and to take the further course of action.