NEW DELHI: Residents of Ladakh will now have “Ladakh” instead of “Jammu & Kashmir” in their Aadhaar cards, in what has been described as a "significant move" to uphold their regional identity. Despite the formation of Ladakh as a Union territory in 2019, after the region was carved out of Jammu and Kashmir, which was also made a Union territory, the Aadhaar records of its residents had continued to reflect the erstwhile state’s name. According to a press release, lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena took serious note of the issue and directed the Ladakh administration to resolve it at the earliest. The administration subsequently took up the matter with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the central body responsible for issuing Aadhaar cards. “The continued reflection of ‘Jammu and Kashmir’ in Aadhaar records of Ladakh residents had been causing considerable inconvenience.

Residents faced difficulties in using the document as valid identity and address proof while availing various services, as the ‘state’ field did not correspond to Ladakh’s post-reorganisation status,” the release said. The issue also affected the proper representation of Ladakh in Aadhaar-linked records and progress reports. To address this, the administration and UIDAI devised an innovative mechanism to update the “state” field centrally. Instead of requiring residents to individually visit Aadhaar centres, the updation was carried out using PIN codes specific to Ladakh. These were verified in coordination with the India Post and shared with UIDAI.