Yash Khajuria
Leh, Jan 30: Nearly one in every six children below the age of five in Ladakh is acutely malnourished, the Economic Survey 2025–26 has revealed, placing a sharp spotlight on the Union Territory’s child health crisis even as it is being showcased nationally for its success in adult literacy.
Drawing on data from the National Family Health Survey, the Survey records that 17.5 per cent of children under five in Ladakh are classified as “wasted”. The figures pertain to Ladakh as a separate Union Territory following the 2019 administrative reorganisation and form one of the most direct assessments of the region’s human development challenges in the latest national economic review.
The Economic Survey 2025–26, drawing on data from the National Family Health Survey, records that 17.5 per cent of children below five years of age in Ladakh are classified as wasted, indicating acute malnutrition. The figures, presented for Ladakh as a standalone Union Territory following the 2019 administrative reorganisation, place child health among the most pressing development challenges for the high-altitude region.
Tabled in Parliament on January 29 by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Economic Survey presents Ladakh as a strategically sensitive Himalayan Union Territory facing structural constraints in infrastructure, climate exposure and tourism dependence, even as it is aligned with the national development pathway under the Viksit Bharat@2047 framework.
While the Survey acknowledges Ladakh as the leading performer under the national ULLAS adult education programme, it simultaneously draws attention to persistent gaps in basic human development and grassroots administration.
According to the Ministry of Finance document, Ladakh has achieved full adult literacy under the ULLAS scheme, formally titled Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society. The Union Territory has outpaced other high-performing regions such as Mizoram, Goa, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh in the national literacy drive.
At the national level, the programme has enrolled more than 3.1 crore learners, mobilised nearly 47 lakh volunteer teachers and certified about 1.7 crore neo-literates. For Ladakh, this achievement has been recorded against the backdrop of difficult terrain, sparse population distribution and long-standing limitations in access to conventional education infrastructure.
However, the Survey makes it clear that education gains alone do not reflect the full development picture in the high-altitude region.
The national report underlines that, although nutrition indicators have improved across the country, Ladakh’s child health figures expose vulnerabilities linked to climatic hardship, limited local food production and fragile supply chains. Harsh winters, difficult connectivity and recurring logistical disruptions continue to shape access to nutrition and healthcare services in remote settlements.
The Survey links these constraints to the need for region-specific health and nutrition strategies in ecologically fragile and geographically isolated areas, warning that uneven human development could persist unless targeted interventions are strengthened.
Concerns over governance capacity emerge just as sharply in the Survey’s assessment of rural institutions.
Ladakh is listed among the States and Union territories that do not have enabling legal provisions allowing Panchayati Raj Institutions to levy and collect local taxes, duties and user charges. The absence of such powers leaves Panchayats heavily dependent on grants routed through Central and State Finance Commissions.
The Economic Survey states that weak own-source revenue undermines financial autonomy, limits local planning capacity and weakens accountability at the village and block levels. In the context of Ladakh, this institutional shortfall is particularly consequential for development planning in remote and disaster-prone areas.
The report cautions that the lack of revenue-generating authority at the Panchayat level can obstruct community-led initiatives in sectors such as tourism infrastructure, essential civic services and disaster preparedness, all of which carry direct relevance for a region exposed to climate risks and seasonal economic disruptions.
The Survey further argues that strengthening local revenue frameworks is central to the national objective of shifting rural development from participation-driven programmes to partnership-based governance.
Against this sharper scrutiny of health and governance systems, Ladakh’s education performance stands out as the only consistently strong indicator in the national assessment.
The Survey observes that the ULLAS programme has evolved into a primary mechanism for reaching adults who were historically excluded from formal schooling. In Ladakh, volunteer-supported and community-based learning models have enabled access to education in remote and high-altitude habitations where conventional institutions remain limited.
The national report also links improvements in learning outcomes to expanded digital infrastructure and better school facilities, alongside rising participation of children in learning activities, particularly among girls, although no district-level break-up has been provided for the Union Territory.
References to Ladakh in the Survey are limited but pointed, appearing largely in sections dealing with social sector performance, rural development and health indicators, drawn mainly from Chapter 11 on social sector expansion, Chapter 13 on rural development and social progress, and the Statistical Appendix.
Taken together, these references present a clear policy contrast.
The Economic Survey 2025–26 places Ladakh at a difficult policy juncture—recording strong outcomes in adult education while exposing serious deficits in child nutrition and Panchayat financing that threaten to slow broader social progress in the Union Territory.
With the Union Budget scheduled for presentation on February 1, the Survey underscores the need for parallel investments in public health delivery systems and stronger fiscal empowerment of local governments to secure durable development in one of the country’s most fragile and strategically sensitive regions.
