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Title: Need to sanction supplementary funds as plan support to Autonomous Hill Development Council (AHDC) for Leh and Kargil region of Jammu and Kashmir.
SHRI CHHEWANG THUPSTAN (LADAKH): The people of Ladakh region are grateful to Government of India for having constituted Autonomous Hill Development Council for both Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh region in J & K. Establishment of Hill councils have enthused a sense of participation in the people of Ladakh, and development process in this sensitive border region has received a tremendous boost. Both the council at Leh and Kargil are functioning extremely satisfactorily and discharging their functions with responsibility and setting examples in accountability. However, they are hampered in their functioning due to constraints for funding. Both the councils have not received any special financial allocation except Rs. 40 crores each sanctioned by Hon’ble Prime Minister for raising Council Infrastructure during the past more than 12 years of their existence. These councils are being treated as just another Districts of J&K State in the matter of allocation of funds. I strongly urge upon Government of India to sanction supplementary funds as plan support to enable Councils to meet the aspirations of people of Ladakh and I also urge both the State and Central Govt, to review the AHDC (Laddakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils) Act to make it more effective and sufficiently empower them for more effective functioning.