Any ploy to deprive army of Cantonment land must be foiled
Is it not strange that the ministry of defence (MoD) has formed an expert committee again, fully composed of civilians with no knowledge of military matters, to make amendments to the cantonment laws, where the stake holder is the army residing in these cantonments for generations?
This committee had recently visited Pune Cantonment, wherein the PCBs highlighted various problems related to mutations, GST, floor space Index (FSI) & problems in lease renewals, in addition to non-implementation of various Central government schemes and Supreme Court orders.
For long, the elected civilian members have been involved in passing scathing remarks against the army, holding it responsible for the so- called under development in the cantonments.
Before we proceed further, we must understand what these cantonments are about. They were conceived during British days to keep the army away from the civilian population and also to provide enough training areas to the army.
In the British days, these civilian members of Cantonment Boards camp followers of the army.
They had no rights. Now, it seems they, along with the civilian officials of MoD, are keen to take control of all 62 Cantonment Boards of India from the army.
If this is allowed to happen, there will be any number of Adarsh Society type of scams in India.
It is common knowledge that the defence land has always been a prime target of the “land mafia”.
Encroachments in 62 military cantonments in India include huge tracts of land, over 2500 illegally occupied old grant bungalows and hundreds of illegal commercial properties.
Despite Supreme Court orders for the removal of these encroachments and reclaiming bungalows, no steps have been taken till date.
For reasons best known to the MOD, 120 roads in all 62 Cantonments, some lying closed for more than 21 years,
ENCROACHMENTS IN INDIA'S 62 MILITARY CANTONMENTS INCLUDE HUGE TRACTS OF LAND, OVER 2,500 ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED BUNGALOWS & MANY ILLEGAL COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES
were suddenly opened for public use with no due thought that most of the army officers and jawans leave their families in these Cantonments for safety so that they can fight the enemy on the border without any fear of their families coming to harm.
In one go, this has been taken away, affecting the morale of troops. The lease agreements of a majority of the old grant bungalows will expire in 2019.
Each of these bungalows has 10-15 acres of land, which can be used for constructing high rise buildings for the troops as living accommodation.
So, apparently, the aim is to cash in on this gold mine by civilians because land leases are up for renewal.
Hence, this expert committee. These land leases must not be renewed and all the 2500 bungalows should revert to army control.
Sale of these bungalows and land in the Cantonment areas must be banned.
The politicians and bureaucrats are all ready to grab this land, as has happened in cities, including Mumbai, in the past.
The security of cantonments will be further jeopardised, as we have seen terror attacks, specifically targeting families of serving military personnel in the past.
When it is the army that staying in these cantonments and controlling them for ages, why this sudden hurry now to dislodge it?
There is no need to change anything so far as cantonment boards are concerned. This is a ploy to grab the Cantonment land and it should not be allowed.