A new political map showing the administrative boundaries of the newly carved out union territories-Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has been released by the Central government. The Indian Union now consists of 28 states and 9 union territories. The bifurcation of Jammu & Kashmir into two Union Territories came into effect at midnight on October 30.
The new map of the Indian Union, as released by the Home Minister, shows erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state divided into two parts- Jammu along with Kashmir valley and parts of Pakistan occupied Kashmir as a separate union territory with distinct boundaries, while Ladakh, Kargil, including Gilgit-Baltistan which is under forcible occupation of Pakistan, are categorised under Ladakh union territory.
Recently, Lieutenant Governors were appointed to take charge of newly formed union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. GC Murmu was anointed as the Lt-Governor of Jammu and Kashmir while RK Mathur was sworn in as the first Ladakh Lt-Governor.
On August 5, the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the centre took a historic decision of abrogating Article 370, stripping away the separate status of Jammu and Kashmir state, and subsequently got the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill passed to bifurcate the state into two union territories- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The released map puts in perspective the move to hollow out Article 370, that served as an impediment to the greater integration of state and its population into the Union of India. With the reorganisation of the state into two union territories, the government plans to harness their developmental potential and bring them at par with the rest of the country.