Source: HT
Context: The Indian Army is planning to merge civilian areas at cantonments with municipal corporations and municipalities and designate them as military stations.
What is the plan?
Plan is to carve out the military areas in cantonments and convert them into “exclusive military stations” with the Army exercising “absolute control” over them. The civilian areas, in turn, will be merged with the local municipalities so as to provide them with the benefits of various government schemes.
- The first cantonment to be renamed a military station is Yol in Himachal Pradesh
- Not all cantonments will become military stations as some army and civilian pockets are intertwined.
What are the issues with Cantonments?
Cantonments have strict restrictions on construction, road use, and common area occupation, causing tension between civilians and the military. Civilians face challenges in obtaining home loans and accessing government schemes. Even basic renovations require multiple permissions.
About Cantonment:
| Information | |
| Definition | A proclaimed area under the Cantonments Act, 2006, governed and controlled by the central government of India to provide municipal services for civilians living in the area. |
| Categories | Cantonment Boards are categorized into four categories based on population: Category I (>50,000), Category II (10,000-50,000), Category III (2,500-10,000), and Category IV (<2,500). |
| Authority | Cantonment Board is an authority under the Ministry of Defence. |
| Composition | Consists of eight members: three ex-officio members, three nominated military members (garrison engineer, station commander, and senior executive medical officer), and one representative of the district magistrate. |
| Services Provided | Sanitation, primary education, street lighting, water supply, maintenance of roads, bridges, and public hospitals. |
| Cantonments vs Military station | Cantonments are civilian areas that are under the control of the military, and they usually have a civilian population living in them as well. Military stations, on the other hand, are purely military areas where only military personnel and their families reside. |
