Chief Secretary of the Union Territory of Ladakh, Dr. Pawan Kotwal, chaired a review meeting on “Deregulation and Compliance Reduction” at the UT Secretariat on June 24.

The meeting focused on streamlining administrative procedures, improving ease of doing business, and reviewing reforms under the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP), including the decriminalization of minor offences.

Administrative Secretary Bhupesh Chaudhary presented a comprehensive overview of progress made in accordance with the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) guidelines. He highlighted the updated Management Information System (MIS) portal, where all 23 priority reform areas have been assigned to respective departments. Updated departmental data will be submitted to the Chief Secretary and subsequently forwarded to the Task Force for final review.

A key focus of the meeting was the decriminalization exercise, a major component of the deregulation and compliance reduction process.

Dr. Kotwal stressed the importance of effective implementation, stating, “A law holds value only when it's executed in both spirit and practice.” He reviewed the implementation status of the Jan Vishwas Act and directed the Law Department to align applicable UT laws in the format of the J&K Acts.

The Chief Secretary also reviewed public service delivery mechanisms, particularly the issuance of identity, Scheduled Tribe, and resident certificates. He instructed the Revenue Department to ensure full digitization of processes—including online Patwari signatures—and assured that the government would support associated costs.

The meeting concluded with an emphasis on timely and effective implementation of the Public Services Guarantee Act (PSGA) to strengthen citizen-centric governance and ensure administrative accountability.

Key participants included Administrative Secretaries of Tourism, Agriculture, RDD/PRI & IT, PWD/PHE; Directors of Housing & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, and Rural Development; Member Secretary, LPCC; Chief Engineer, PDD; Additional Secretary, Law Department; State Informatics Officer, NIC; Assistant Commissioner (Revenue), Leh; Deputy Director, Fire & Rescue Services; Deputy Labour Commissioner; Executive Officer, Municipal Committee Leh; Assistant Architect, Housing & Urban Development; and the PMU Team from the Tourism Department.