Leh: In follow up to Centre’s commitments, the Union Public Service Commission has agreed to tweak its annual calendar for to make way for special recruitment drive for Ladakh filling up 232 gazetted posts.
This development comes in the wake of a crucial meeting Ladakh Chief Secretary Dr Pawan Kotwal had with the UPSC Chairman Shashi Ranjan. Joint Secretary (Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh), Ministry of Home Affairs, Prashant Lokhande was also present in the meeting besides Ladakh GAD Secretary Shri Michael M. D’Souza.
The meeting involved detailed deliberations on the pressing requirement of Gazetted officers in the UT of Ladakh, particularly in view of the growing administrative and developmental responsibilities of the Union Territory.
Although the UPSC calendar for recruitment to Gazetted posts for the year 2025 had set the window for receipt of requisitions between 1st January and 31st March 2025, and the final date had passed on 31st March 2025, the Commission has agreed to make a special exception in the case of Ladakh. This decision has been taken in view of the career interests of the youth of Ladakh and the administrative needs of the Union Territory, where a large number of vacancies have accumulated in key departments such as Health and School Education, owing to the fact that no Gazetted recruitment has taken place since October 2019.
Recognising the administrative urgency, the UPSC has agreed to initiate recruitment for key Gazetted posts in Ladakh in the first phase. These include:
• 125 Medical Officers – Health Department
• 75 Lecturers – School Education Department
• 32 Accounts Officers – Finance Department
Recruitment to the remaining Gazetted vacancies will be undertaken in a phased manner.
The Chief Secretary thanked the UPSC for the consultative process undertaken in finalising the Recruitment Rules and initiating recruitment for the Union Territory. He also thanked the Commission for initiating the process immediately after the finalisation of the domicile and reservation framework by the UT Administration.
