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Govt seeks to rename 58 cantts as military stations, Rajya Sabha told
The defence ministry has shared broad modalities for a proposed separation of civilian areas in 58 cantonments across the country, the government told Rajya Sabha on Monday.
The defence ministry has shared broad modalities for a proposed separation of civilian areas in 58 cantonments across the country, with the move aimed at bringing uniformity in municipal laws governing these areas and adjoining municipal pockets, the government told Rajya Sabha on Monday.
The ministry has sought comments from the states on the matter.
Yol in Himachal Pradesh was the first cantonment to be renamed as a military station in April. It was the first step in a major drive to merge civilian areas in cantonments, created during the British era, with municipal corporations and municipalities, and to create separate designated military stations for the armed forces that will stay under the control of the latter.
Military stations are meant for the use of the armed forces and set up under an executive order.
“The excision of civil areas and their merger with state municipalities involves active consultation and concurrence of the state governments concerned. Therefore, it is not feasible to provide any timeframe for its implementation,” minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt said in a written reply to a question.
Representations were received from public and elected representatives, and from a few states for excision of civil areas in different cantonments, the minister said.
The 58 cantonments in question are spread across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Delhi, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Meghalaya. The prominent ones include Ambala, Deolali, Delhi, Ahmednagar, Mhow, Jabalpur, Kasauli, Pachmarhi, Shillong, Babina, Bareilly, Wellington, Pune, Dalhousie, Secunderabad, Lucknow, Allahabad, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Subathu, Dehradun, Lansdowne, Nainital and Roorkee.
There are 61 cantonments scattered across the country. Jammu and Badamibagh in Srinagar are the only ones that are missing in the list of 58.
The development comes at a time when the army is reviewing British-era practices in consultation with all stakeholders including the top brass, serving officers, soldiers and veterans. To be sure, not all cantonments are likely to become military stations as the army and civilian pockets are intertwined and that may not permit a segregation, as previously reported by HT.
Military stations will be better administered and maintained but cantonments where military and civilian populations live in contiguous areas are likely to pose a challenge, said military affairs expert Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd).
The carving out of military stations will benefit all stakeholders, officials aware of the matter said, seeking anonymity.
Civilians who were not getting access to state government welfare schemes through the municipal corporations and municipalities will be able to avail the schemes after civilian areas become part of the local bodies, and the army will also be able to focus more on the development of the military stations, the officials added.
In January 2023, the defence ministry announced the separation of civilian areas from the Secunderabad Cantonment and their merger with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, a long-pending demand of the Telangana government.
In a communication sent to the state government giving its approval for the excision of civil areas in the cantonment, the defence ministry said a committee was being formed to work out the modalities for the same.
