SRINAGAR: In a major administrative reform, Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Vinai Kumar Saxena has approved the creation of 17 new tehsils, taking the total number of tehsils in the Union Territory from 15 to 32 in a move aimed at strengthening grassroots governance and bringing government services closer to the people.
The decision marks a significant reorganisation of Ladakh’s revenue administrative framework and is intended to streamline governance by ensuring that every revenue village is mapped to a single tehsil and every tehsil falls under a single district, eliminating long-standing administrative and jurisdictional overlaps.
Under the new administrative structure, Leh district will have five tehsils, Kargil seven, Changthang four, Nubra six, Zanskar four, Sham five and Drass one tehsil.
The Lieutenant Governor said the restructuring is aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a developed and prosperous Ladakh following its formation as a Union Territory in 2019.
According to the LG, the expanded administrative framework will strengthen governance at the grassroots level, improve the delivery of public services and ensure faster implementation of developmental programmes across the region.
In a major policy decision to reorganize the revenue administrative framework in Ladakh, have approved the creation of 17 new Tehsils, a move aimed at strengthening the governance at the grassroots level and bringing governance closer to the people. It takes the total number of…
— LG Ladakh (@lg_ladakh) July 12, 2026
The move is also expected to make government services more accessible to residents living in remote and border areas by reducing administrative distances and improving coordination between district and tehsil-level authorities.
Officials said the reorganisation is aimed at creating a more efficient and citizen-centric revenue administration, enabling quicker disposal of public grievances and more effective implementation of welfare and development initiatives.
