Facts about Paddar

Tehsil

Did you know that Paddar enjoyed the status of Tehsil prior to independence with its headquarter at Gulabgarh during winters and Zanskar, now part of District Kargil (Ladakh) during summers? It was in 1962 when Paddar got the status of Niyabat i.e. after remaining in oblivion for 15 long years after independence. It got its Tehsil status restored only in 2005. On the contrary, Zanskar area which used to be the part of Tehsil Paddar before partition, enjoys the glory of being known as Revenue Sub-Divisional Headquarter. There are two Tehsils in Paddar namely Atholi and Machail. 

World famous Sapphire mines.

It is a widely known open fact that Sapphire in the mines of Paddar is of the most purest form in the world. But irony of the fate is that the extraction work at the mines has not been started during last 70 years, as a result government coffers have been denied the revenue worth several billion dollars on one hand and the local population is being denied the employment on the other hand.
There is need for global tendering for the extraction of Sapphire with transparency. Whatever negligible extraction is done, the local population is not involved; no skilled labour is engaged.

The state of Education in Paddar.

Most glaring is the fact that entire Paddar Tehsil is economically, socially and educationally lagging behind in all walks of life and has been declared backward under the category “Reserved Backward Area”. But unfortunately Government has not initiated steps to uplift the area. To site an example, about 64 degree colleges have been opened in the state during last 5 years, thanks to the Human Resources Development Department, Government of India, Tehsil Paddar has been ignored miserably for the reasons not known to the general public. Whereas, 2 or more colleges stand opened in one Tehsil (e.g. – Tehsil Mahore of District Udhampur).

Famous Cumin( Kaala Zeera).

Again, a widely known fact that Paddar produces the most natural form of Cumin popularly known as Kaala Zeera. Unfortunately the species is at the point of extinction, because no steps have been taken to improve its production. Half heartedly government deputed some employees to improve the cultivation but the whole exercise turned fiasco as millions of rupees were spent for about 20 years as pay and other expenses without any yield.

Ancient architecture.

According to the legend, there are certain unique and rarely found sculptures dating back to the Pandava’s era in almost all the villages of Paddar, particularly worth seeing ancient monuments are found in villages Leondi, Ligri, Ongai, Kundal, Sazar, Laai etc. These places can attract a large number of piligrims if exploted. The historic sites even reminds us of the stone age.

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