New Delhi, July 14 -- The decision to establish Autonomous Hill Development Councils in all seven districts of Ladakh, one of India's northernmost regions wedged between the Himalayas and the Karakoram mountain ranges, marks a major change in the way the strategically placed Union Territory will be governed.

At its core, this is a transfer of political authority from distant administrative centres to elected institutions rooted in Ladakh's regions. It gives remote communities a greater say in development, planning and local decision-making.

The creation of five new districts has already brought administration closer to the people. Extending the Hill Council system to all seven districts now gives that administrative change a democratic ...