Central government’s gift to Ladakh, PM Narendra Modi approves first central university in the new Union Territory

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the plan to create the first Central University in Ladakh which will begin with the Center for Buddhist Studies. The government has approved the plan to institute the Central university and gift it to the people of Ladakh only a few days before the completion of a year of it being made into a separate Union Territory.

PM Narendra Modi took this decision in a meeting to review the steps taken by the government in the last one year in the union territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. Several top officials, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, attended the meeting.

Every year about 10,000 students had to leave their homes in Ladakh and go to other states to study. With the approval of the central university thousands of such students stand to benefit.

Keeping this in mind, PM Narendra Modi approved the proposal of setting up a Central University here. According to the Ministry of Human Resources, the Central University of Ladakh also aims to provide better education to the students of Lahaul & Spiti in Himachal Pradesh. After the inauguration of the tunnel on Rohtang Pass, Himachal students will also be able to come here.

All subjects related to Arts and Base Science will be taught at the proposed Central University. However, the university will not be venturing into engineering and medical education right now. The Central University will also have a center for Buddhist studies. This center will be opened keeping in mind the Gelug and Kagus people of Ladakh. The people of this community in Ladakh follow Tibetan Buddhism and they come from the lineage of the 14th Dalai Lama who was also from the Gelug community.

According to the 2011 census, the total population of Kargil is 140,802, of which 76.87% of the population is Muslim (mostly Shia). Whereas, Leh has a total population of 133,487, of which 66.40% are Buddhists. Accordingly, the total population of Ladakh is 2,74,289 lakhs. The population of Ladakh region is divided in half between Leh and Kargil districts.