UTs: J&K and Ladakh | 01 Nov 2019

Radha Krishna Mathur has been appointed as the first Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) of Ladakh and Girish Chandra Murmu, that of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).

This move has come after the Centre scrapped provisions of Article 370 that had given Jammu and Kashmir special status and split it into two Union territories (UTs) under the J&K Reorganisation Act of 2019.
- This is the first time that a state has been divided into UTs.
- Kargil and Leh districts form Ladakh, while the rest of the region constitutes the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Now, India has 9 UTs and 28 states.

The two new UTs, Ladakh and J&K, officially came into existence on the 144^th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (31^st October 2019), who is credited for the merger of over 560 princely states into the Union of India.
- With this, President's rule imposed in undivided Jammu and Kashmir in June 2018 stands revoked.
- The flag and constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), cease to exist, with the Indian Penal Code (IPC) now extending to both UTs.
The Union Territory of J&K will have a 114-member elected Assembly and a Chief Minister whereas the Union territory of Ladakh will be controlled directly by the L-G (i.e. without an Assembly).

Articles 239 to 241 in Part VIII of the Constitution deal with the union territories.
Every union territory is administered by the President acting through an administrator appointed by him.
- The President can specify the designation of an administrator; it may be Lieutenant Governor or Chief Commissioner or Administrator.
The Parliament can make laws on any subject of the three lists (i.e. Union, State and Concurrent) for the union territories.