Merger of Secunderabad Cantt with GHMC: Here's the timeline of the 8-yr-old fight

Hyderabad: The members of the All Cantonments Welfare Association hailed the beginning of the merger of the Secunderabad Cantonment civilian area with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.

"The current development is the result of a long and arduous journey traversed by the civilians of the Cantonment over many years," the members said, and highlighted some of the important milestones that led to this.

On 5 January, it was announced that the merger of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) with the GHMC is in the offing. Constitution of a committee to separate civil areas from military areas in the Secunderabad Cantonment Board is on the cards, a circular from the ministry of Defence to the secretary, Telangana ministry of administration and urban development, said.

The letter, issued on 4 January, is doing the rounds of the Resident Welfare Associations of Secunderabad as they are the most affected by the closure of roads and lack of connectivity to the main city.

Here is the timeline of the eight-year-old fight

· In 2014, a few residents of Secunderabad Cantonment got together to safeguard the interests of civilians. This led to the formation of the Secunderabad Cantonment Citizen's Welfare Association (SCCiWA) with M.L Agarwal as the president and Jeetendra Surana as the secretary.

· SCCiWA started gathering important documents to build a case and in July, they met the then Defence minister Arun Jaitley with the good offices of MP C. Malla Reddy and explained the current plight of civilians in the Cantonments and gave a detailed representation. Mr. Jaitley was very sympathetic to their problems and assured all help.

· Before the end of 2014, All Cantonments Citizen's Welfare Association (ACCiWA) with M.L Agarwal as chairman and Jeetendra Surana as secretary was formed, representing all 62 Cantonments of India. The meeting was addressed by MP and former Minister Santosh Bagrodia (Congress). He assured them the support of his party.

· In 2017, SCCiWA met the then Defence minister Manohar Parrikar at Secunderabad and explained the problems of the civilians and gave a detailed representation. The minister assured a resolution to their problems.

· In December 2018, delegates from 62 Cantonments met in Delhi under the chairmanship of Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Murali Manohar Joshi, senior BJP MP, voiced the problems of the civilians in Cantonments and made a strong plea for a quick resolution. They were supported by MPs Laxmi Narayan Yadav, Rattan Lal Kataria, and Suresh Chanabasappa Angadi.

· A meeting of ACCiWA 2018 was addressed by senior BJP MPs Murali Manohar Joshi and Meenakshi Lekhi.

· Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman directed the formation of an expert committee under the chairmanship of S.K Bose, IAS (Retd). Citizens of the Cantonments were represented by M.L Agarwal and Jeetendra Surana and a few other members. They appraised the committee of their views, concerns, and suggested the merger of Cantonments with adjacent municipalities as the only and best solution.

· In July and August 2021, a delegation under M.L AgarwaL met and gave a detailed representation to Ajay Bhatt, minister of state, Defence. He candidly admitted that since he too lived in a Cantonment, he was fully aware of their problems and assured all help. The team also met several MPs, including Lakshmikanth Rao (TRS) and Salman Khurshid (Congress).

· In response to abjections called by MoD for amendment to CLAR 2021, both ACCiWA and SCCiWA submitted a detailed dossier of 1,200 pages to the MOD and to CDS, DGDE, and all members of the Standing Committee on Defence. They proposed the merger of Cantonments with municipalities and highlighted the benefits not only to civilians but also the government.

· When the Cantonment Bill 2021-22 was proposed, the Cantonments gave another detailed representation reinforcing the proposal for merger.

· The Secunderabad Cantonment residents met members of the Standing Committee in Hyderabad in December 2021 and reiterated their proposal and explained it in detail to all MPs present.

· In 2022, SCCiWA held a meeting with special chief secretary, MAUD TS, and CEO Secunderabad Cantonment raising the problems faced by civilians and suggested merger as the only solution.