Hon’ble Chairman/CEC of LAHDC Kargil Dr Mohd Jaffer Akhoon calls on Hon’ble Lt Governor Brig (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd).

Leh, March 06, 2025: The Hon’ble Chairman/CEC of LAHDC Kargil, Dr Mohd Jaffer Akhoon called on the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brigadier (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd), at the Lieutenant Governor’s Secretariat. Principal Secretary, Sanjiv Khirwar, IAS; Commissioner/Secretary, Dr Vasanthakumar N, IAS; Commissioner/Secretary to the HLG, Dr L Franklin, IAS, Director, Finance, Dr Safdar Ali, IRS and Director Health Services, Dr Thinles were present in the meeting.
At the outset, the HLG raised several queries and made several observations to Hon’ble Chairman of LAHDC Kargil, including the need to frame educational policies which are student-centric, the progress of detachment of teaching/non-teaching staff in Kargil to ensure that students’ studies are not hampered; the need to promote horse polo in Kargil, especially Drass, for the benefit of youth; the improvement in the attendance of Directors/Head of Departments posted in Kargil after the introduction of the biometric attendance system; the need to take steps to open a helpdesk for tourists at Sonamarg in consultation with DGP Ladakh and Tourism Department; the need to improve services at District Hospital Kargil to make it more patient-centric; the need to take immediate measures to prioritise sterilisation of stray/feral dogs in vulnerable areas of Kargil such as schools and health centres along with looking for adequate funds to carry out sterilisation drives and the need to tag sterilised dogs; the update on completion of Iqbal Hydel Project; the demand for submission of project works through the Chairman of Hill Councils and reinstating the reduced budget of the Hill Councils to carry out development projects; the need to look into complaint regarding non-equitable distribution of cattle feed to the residents of Zanskar by the concerned area Councillor, etc.
Chairman/CEC, LAHDC Kargil, Dr Mohd Jaffer Akhoon requested the HLG’s intervention in finding a suitable replacement for the incumbent Medical Superintendent of District Hospital Kargil on health grounds along with the need to address the issue of transfer of A-Grade doctors who have recently been promoted. He also requested the HLG for financial assistance to organise an event to promote Suru Valley as a tourist destination. He further requested the HLG’s intervention to improve All India Radio (AIR) Kargil.
Dr Mohd Jaffer Akhoon also raised several other issues; viz. the need to enhance salaries of staff working in Forest, Soil Conservation and other departments; the need to conduct delimitation exercise of panchayat halqa before conducting the Panchayat elections; the need to expedite the purchase of MRI machine for District Hospital Kargil, etc.
Replying to the demands raised by Hon’ble Chairman of LAHDC Kargil, the HLG asked the concerned officials to seek funds from Ministry of Tourism, GoI, to organise the event to promote Suru Valley as a tourist destination. He asked Dr Jafffer Akhoon to prepare a letter addressing the Hon’ble Minister of Information and Broadcasting so that he could apprise the Ministry of the need to improve AIR Kargil. He informed the Hon’ble Chairman of LAHDC Kargil about the Committee which has been constituted to look into the issue of employees who have been left out of the list of 1900 casual/daily wagers. The HLG stated that extra budget would be allocated to the Hill Councils provided the Ministry of Finance, GoI, increases budget allocation to UT Ladakh.
The HLG underscored the importance of not bringing party politics into welfare programmes/schemes, the dispensation of welfare assistance to the public and the development of the constituencies. He asked the concerned officials from the Health Department to promote the sale of medicines at Jan Aushadi Kendras and purchase generic medicines instead of branded ones.