Engineer, innovator and education reformist Sonam Wangchuk.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Ladakh administration has cancelled the land allotment made in 2018 to climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s institute at Phyang village in Leh.
Mr. Wangchuk, an education reformer, has been the face of protests in Ladakh for the past three years and had recently joined a three-day hunger strike in Kargil to demand constitutional safeguards for the region.
After Ladakh became a Union Territory in 2019, following revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcation of the former State, its civil society groups erupted in protests several times demanding Statehood, inclusion in Sixth Schedule of the Constitution (tribal status for Ladakh) to preserve land and culture, and employment opportunities.
An order issued on Friday (August 21) by Romil Singh Donk, Deputy Commissioner, Leh, said, that the land measuring 1076 kanal and 1 marla (around 135 acres) allotted to Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning (HIAL) “stands escheated to the State i.e. LAHDC (Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council) and the Tehsildar, Leh shall remove all the encumbrances from the said piece of state land as per provisions of the law and effect entries in the revenue record accordingly.”
The order said that the land in Phyang was given to HIAL on lease for 40 years adding that it has not been used for the purpose allotted “as no University (as recognised by law) has been set up” till date.
It said that “no lease agreement has been executed in respect of the allotted land and no formal handing over and taking over of the said land has taken place through Tehsildar Leh till date, as per record.”
The order said the allotment order lapsed on May 5, 2019, and is deemed to have been cancelled as one of the conditions to execute the lease deed within a period of one year from the order issuance date was not fulfilled.
Mr. Wangchuk could not be reached for a comment.
HIAL’s website says that it aims to develop Ladakh into a benchmark for a sustainable economic living for the mountain world, where all children receive a meaningful education that prepares them for a life of dignity in harmony with nature.
On October 6, 2024, Mr. Wangchuk sat on an indefinite fast in Delhi to draw the government’s attention to demands following which the Ministry of Home Affairs agreed to resume the talks with a high-powered committee comprising leaders from Leh and Kargil.
Published – August 23, 2025 12:38 am IST
