On the recommendation of Parliament, the President effectively
dismantled Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and gave assent to the Jammu
and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Mr.
Narendra Modi and supervision of Union Home Minister Mr. Amit Shah, the former
state of Jammu & Kashmir has been reorganized as the new Union Territory of
Jammu and Kashmir and the new Union Territory of Ladakh on Oct 31, 2019.
The new Union Territory of Ladakh consists of two districts of
Kargil and Leh. The rest of the former State of Jammu and Kashmir is in the new
Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
In 1947, the former State of Jammu and Kashmir had the following
14 districts - Kathua, Jammu, Udhampur, Reasi, Anantnag, Baramulla, Poonch,
Mirpur, Muzaffarabad, Leh and Ladakh, Gilgit, Gilgit Wazarat, Chilhas and
Tribal Territory.
By 2019, the state government of former Jammu and Kashmir had
reorganized the areas of these 14 districts into 28 districts. The names of the
new districts are as follows - Kupwara, Bandipur, Ganderbal, Srinagar, Budgam,
Pulwama, Shupian, Kulgam, Rajouri, Ramban, Doda, Kishtivar, Samba and Kargil.
Out of these, Kargil district was carved out from the area of Leh and Ladakh district. The
Leh district of the new Union Territory of Ladakh has been defined in the Jammu
and Kashmir Reorganization (Removal of Difficulties) Second Order, 2019, issued by
the President of India, to include the areas of the districts of Gilgit, Gilgit
Wazarat, Chilhas and Tribal Territory of 1947, in addition to the remaining
areas of Leh and Ladakh districts of 1947, after carving out the Kargil
District.
On this basis, the maps prepared by Survey General of India
depicting the new Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, as
created on October 31, 2019, along with the map of India, are attached below.
