Centre mulls merger of civilian areas of Secunderabad Cant with municipality
Among the 58 Cantonment areas, Secunderabad Cantonment's civilian areas have also been listed, bringing cheer to many city residents who have been advocating for a merger
By Sri Lakshmi Muttevi Published on 24 July 2023 1:40 PM GMT
Hyderabad: The Centre has decided to merge 58 Cantonment civilian areas with their neighbouring state municipalities to bring uniformity in municipal laws. Among the 58, the Secunderabad Cantonment's civilian areas have also been listed, bringing cheer to many city residents who have been advocating for a merger.
Various representations have been received from public and elected representatives, and also from a few state governments, requesting the excision of civil areas from Cantonments. The members said the current development is the result of a long and arduous journey traversed by the civilians of the Cantonment over many years.
Accordingly, broad modalities for the proposed excision of civil areas in 58 Cantonments, including Secunderabad, have been shared with concerned state governments for their comments.
This was the written reply given by minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt to a question asked in Rajya Sabha on Monday. The questions were on whether the government has any plans to disband Cantonments in the country, and whether any Cantonment has been converted into military stations. According to the ministry, one Cantonment, KhasYol, has already been de-notified with effect from April 27, 2023.
The excision of civil areas and their merger with state municipalities involves active consultation and concurrence of the state governments concerned. Therefore, it is not feasible to provide any timeframe for its implementation.
There is no bar on the implementation of state government schemes by state governments concerned in Cantonment areas. All state governments are already extending the benefits of various schemes to the residents in Cantonments.
On the question, if there are any restrictions on real estate companies taking over the Cantonment land after it getting disbanded, the ministry replied, as per sub-section (1) of Section 7 Cantonments Act, 2006, whenever any local area forming part of a Cantonment ceases to be under the control of a particular board and is immediately placed under the control of some other local authority, such portion of the Cantonment fund or the Cantonment development fund and any other property vesting in the board and such portion of the liabilities of the board, as the central government may, by of general or special order, direct, shall be transferred that other local authority.
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.
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.
Speaking to News Meter, General Secretary of All Cantonment Citizen Welfare's Association (ACCiWWA) Jeetender Surana said, "It is a sigh of relief for Cantonment citizen's. We can now get benefits of using fundamental rights and will have better basic amenities under GHMC. Merger helps us to get several schemes of the Telangana state government."
