Ladakh lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Friday approved the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Nautor Regularisation) Rules, 2026, paving the way for proprietary rights over eligible barren land and resolving a long-pending issue affecting thousands of landholders in the Union territory.
The absence of uniform rules also created a threat of claims and disputes over government and council land.
The authority to allot Nautor land is now vested in LAHDCs in all seven districts, according to the rules. “Under Section 42 of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997, land within the district stands transferred to the Council, while clause (I) of Section 23 vests executive powers in the Council in relation to the allotment, use and occupation of land vested in it,” the rules read. Saxena said the rules provide legal certainty to genuine Nautor landholders, bring in transparency and accountability to the regularisation process and establish uniform procedures across the Union Territory. At the same time, the rules would safeguard the land vested in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) from encroachment and unauthorised claims, he said.
Nautor land refers to government-owned barren land or wasteland that was earlier allotted to individuals for cultivation or other productive use.
