Ladakh Recognizes Five Official Languages
Kargil, June 3: In a historic move that celebrates the linguistic and cultural heritage of the region, the President of India has promulgated the Ladakh Official Languages Regulation, 2025, officially recognizing five languages Purgi, Bhoti, Urdu, Hindi, and English for use in all or any of the official purposes of the Union Territory of Ladakh.
As per the Gazette notification dated June 2, 2025, the Regulation was enacted under the powers conferred by Article 240 of the Constitution and read with Section 58(2) of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
The decision marks a significant shift towards inclusive governance, aiming to reflect the multilingual reality of Ladakh’s population.
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The Regulation also empowers the Administrator of the UT to take steps for the promotion and development of other native languages, specifically naming Shina (Dardic), Brokskat (Dardic), Balti, and Ladakhi. These steps will include the establishment of an Academy of Art, Culture, and Languages to serve as an institutional mechanism to protect and promote the region’s rich linguistic diversity.
Local communities, cultural activists, and educational institutions have welcomed the move, hailing it as a long-awaited acknowledgment of Ladakh’s unique identity.
The Regulation also ensures continuity by allowing English to remain in use for official purposes it previously served.
This legislative step is expected to strengthen grassroots governance, improve communication, and foster a renewed sense of pride among Ladakhis in their mother tongues.
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Very important of balti language
Adaptation of 5 languages in IUT is a best decision.Every person can talk or use their own mother language and this act will promomote local languages.S.B.A SALIK SKARDU BALTISTAN NORTHERN PAKISTAN.
We really appreciate the Govt. of India’s this step to make Purgi and Bhoti as the official languages of Ladakh region. But the Shina speaking community of Ladakh is demanding for inclusion of Shina as an official language of Ladakh because Shina community is not familiar with Purgi and Bhoti. The languages which are becoming the official languages of Ladakh are from Cino -Tibetan origin. But Shina is an old Indo Aryan language and there is no any linguistic relation of Shina with Cino -Tibetan language family.