The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 aims to provide for the reorganization of the state of Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of the Article 370 and Article 35(A) into the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh.
What does the bill do?
- The bill provides for the reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir with a legislature (Like Delhi and Puducherry), and (ii) the Union Territory of Ladakh without a legislature (like the other Union Territories).
- The Union Territory of Ladakh will comprise Kargil and Leh districts.
- The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will have all the remaining districts of the existing state of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Both Union Territories will be administered by the President who will appoint a Lieutenant-Governor to govern the territory on his behalf.
- The Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be 107. Out of these 107 seats, 24 seats will remain vacant (occupied territory in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir).
- A separate delimitation exercise will be carried out for the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir where elections were due later this year.
- There will be no constituencies (state-level) in the Union Territory of Ladakh.
- However, all 6 Lok Sabha seats (3 in Kashmir, 2 in Jammu and 1 in Ladakh) will continue to exist till the next national delimitation exercise.
- The UT of J&K will also have a Council of Ministers with a strength of at maximum 10% the total strength of elected members in the Assembly.
- The Chief Minister will be responsible for communicating all decisions of the Council to the Lieutenant Governor who will pass them on to the president.