UTs: J&K and Ladakh

• 01 Nov 2019

Why in News?

• 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).

Background

• 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.

Current Status

• 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).

Administration of UTs

• 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.

Source: PIB