Sonam Wangchuk urges PM Modi to act on Ladakh's demands
New Delhi (PTI): Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to include Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, granting law-making powers to local people to protect their land and cultural identity.
On September 1, Wangchuk and around 75 volunteers embarked on a foot march from Leh to New Delhi to request the Centre to resume dialogue with Ladakh's leadership regarding their demands.
At a virtual press conference, Wangchuk said he has not received a response to the memorandum of demands submitted to the prime minister during the latter's visit to Dras for the 25th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas in July.
Wangchuk also said the creation of five additional districts in Ladakh could be "indirectly linked" to their protest.
"However, we still do not know if these districts have been granted decision-making powers," he said, adding that it would be unfortunate if that is not the case.
"Ladakh is an ecologically-fragile region facing industrial and climate-related challenges. I urge the prime minister to include it in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to safeguard the autonomy of its people," Wangchuk said.
He said through the march, he aimed at drawing the attention of world leaders and the global community to the severe impacts of climate change in the region.
Responding to a question from PTI, Wangchuk said the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) of Leh and Kargil have only been granted authority to spend development funds. "The people of Ladakh want law-making powers too," he added.
Wangchuk acknowledged that a single march would not resolve the issue. "We want the Centre to resume discussions on the demands of the Ladakhi people," he said.
Wangchuk said he has no intention of joining politics and that the march is unrelated to the upcoming Assembly elections in several states.
In fact, "we are considering avoiding Haryana, which is about to hold elections", he said.
Wangchuk claimed that the government has withdrawn its promise to provide tribal area status and full statehood to Ladakh under pressure from "industrialists, who want to exploit the resources" of the ecologically-fragile region.
The noted engineer had earlier told PTI that land in Ladakh is being allocated for solar-power projects without the consent of the LAHDCs.
With around 320 clear sunny days a year and an average daily global solar radiation of 2022 kWh/m sq./annum, Ladakh is a solar-power generation hotspot in the country. The cold desert also has the potential to generate 35 GW from solar energy and 100 GW from wind energy.
The government has already approved a 13-GW renewable-energy project, with a 7.5-GW solar park, in Ladakh.
Wangchuk went on a 21-day fast in March, surviving only on salt and water, to demand statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion under the Constitution's Sixth Schedule to help protect the ecologically-fragile region from "greedy" industries.
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After arriving from Delhi, Shinde heads to his native village; Mahayuti meet likely on Sun
Mumbai(PTI): Outgoing Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who returned to Mumbai from New Delhi on Friday morning, is travelling to his native village in Satara district amid continuing suspense over his successor a week after the assembly poll results.
Shinde had told reporters in New Delhi on late Thursday night that the next meeting of the Mahayuti alliance on government formation will be held in Mumbai on Friday.
However, the caretaker CM, who heads the Shiv Sena, is travelling to his native village Dare in Satara district in western Maharashtra and the meeting is now expected to take place on Sunday, the sources said.
The Shiv Sena leader has repeatedly said he would not be an obstacle in the government formation and abide by the decisions taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the next chief minister.
Different viewpoints are emerging in the Shiv Sena over Shinde's place in the next government to be headed by the BJP, the biggest constituent in the Mahayuti, which posted a thumping win in the just-held assembly polls.
Many leaders in the Shiv Sena are asking Shinde to accept deputy CM's post if offered by the BJP. However, another section feels it wouldn't be right for him to accept No. 2 position after serving as CM for more than two-and-a-half years, the sources said.
"The government formation process will start after the BJP announces its legislature party leader," they said.
During his Delhi trip, Shinde had met Shah and discussed formation of the next government in the state. His deputies in the outgoing state cabinet Devendra Fadnavis (BJP) and Ajit Pawar (NCP) had also met the senior BJP leader.
Talking to reporters in the national capital, Shinde called the discussion “good and positive”.
Shinde, Fadnavis and Pawar had also met BJP president J P Nadda.
