In a major move, the Centre has decided to dissolve all 62 army cantonment boards in the country discountinuing the "archaic colonial legacies". The government has said that civilian areas under the cantonmnet will be handed over to municipal bodies and army area will be turned into military stations.
The first town to shed its cantonment status is pitcturesque Yol in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.
A notification was issued by the ministry on April 27 for changing the status of the cantonment.
How citizens will benefit?
The sources said the move will prove beneficial to all stakeholders and that civilians, who until now were not getting access to welfare schemes of the state government through the municipality, will now be able to avail them.
"As far as the Army is concerned, it too could now focus on the development of the military station," said a source.
There were 56 cantonments at the time of Independence and six more were notified after 1947. The last Cantonment to be notified was Ajmer in 1962.
Civilian residents of the cantonments generally do not get benefits of welfare schemes of the respective state governments as the military facilities are governed by cantonment boards through the Defence Estates Department of the Ministry of Defence.
The sources said there has been a popular demand from civilian residents and also state governments for the excision of cantonments.
A considerable portion of the defence budget is spent on the development of civil areas of the cantonments, noted an official.
He said due to the ever-increasing expansion of civil areas of cantonments, there is pressure on prime defence land in these facilities.
"Cantonments are colonial structures and military stations can be better administered by taking such steps," said another official.
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