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By Manjeet Negi: The Defence Ministry has confirmed that picturesque Yol in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district has shed its tag as a cantonment on Monday. This came as a major departure from the archaic colonial practice of creating cantonments, said the officials.
The military area within the cantonment will be converted into a military station and the civil area will merge with the municipality. A notification to this effect was published by the government on April 27, 2023.
Contrary to perception, according to officials, this move will prove beneficial to all alike.
“Civilians who were, until now, not getting access to the state government welfare schemes through the municipality, will now be in a position to avail these through the municipality. As far as the army is concerned, they too can now focus on the development of the military station,” a defence official said.
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He further added, “This is the first among a series of excision of the cantonments, and it is a move that has been welcomed by all. The cantonments are deemed municipalities and running municipalities is a state subject.”
According to sources, there were as many as 56 cantonments at the time of independence and six more were notified after 1947, the last one being Ajmer in 1962.
Civilian residents of cantonments are not benefitted from the state government welfare schemes, since cantonments are governed by Cantonment Boards through the Defence Estates Department of the Ministry of Defence, the officials said.
Hence, there is a popular demand from the civilian residents and also the state government for the excision of cantonments, they added.
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As per information, a considerable portion of the defence budget is spent on the development of civil areas of the cantonments. Also, due to the ever-increasing expansion of these areas, there is pressure on A1 Defence Land. Cantonments are colonial phenomena and military stations are better administered.
Sources revealed that cantonment board employees and assets will be taken over by the neighbouring municipality.
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