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Union Territory Of Ladakh Gets 5 New Districts

Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra and Changthang are new districts of Ladakh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said.

Ladakh new districts
Ladakh was part of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir till 2019. Photo: PTI
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Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday that the government has decided to create five new districts in Union territory of Ladakh. Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra and Changthang are new districts of Ladakh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said.

Amit Shah said on microblogging platform X that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is committed to creating abundant opportunities for the people of Ladakh.

Ladakh was part of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir till 2019. On August 5 2019, Article 370 was of the Indian Constitution was abrogated by the Narendra Modi government on August 5, 2019, and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into two Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday asserted that Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will never be restored.

Amit Shah's comments came as Jammu and Kashmir's two principal regional parties -- the National Conference and the PDP -- promised in their election manifestoes for upcoming assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir that they would work to restore the controversial provision, scrapped on August 5, 2019.

Assembly elections will take place in Jammu and Kashmir in September of this year for the first time since 2014. The elections to 90-seat J&K assembly are taking place in three phases - September 18, September 25 and October 1 - while the counting of votes will take place on October 5.

"Article 370 has no place in Jammu and Kashmir now or ever. It will never be restored," Shah said on Saturday at a press conference in the Chhattisgarh capital when asked about it.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hailed the creation of five new districts in Ladakh as a step towards better governance and prosperity.

PM Modi said on X, "Creation of five new districts in Ladakh is a step towards better governance and prosperity."