New Delhi, June 28
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has decided to shelve the proposal for merging the Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES) with the Military Engineering Service (MES) following protests from political circles.
The MoD apparently took the decision to shelve the proposal, which was moved by the Army Headquarters entailing the takeover of cantonments from the civic administration, earlier this month. Leaders of certain political parties not only publicly denounced the idea but also wrote to Union Defence Minister Jaswant Singh. This compelled the MoD to put the proposal in cold storage.
Pressured by these protests, the MoD issued a clarification that no proposal for the merging of the IDES with MES was under consideration.
The MoD, however, maintained that it was committed to streamlining the administration of cantonments for better management of defence estates and bringing about greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Further, the ministry said that the reports suggesting that the administration of cantonments and management of all defence land was to be handed over to the Army were baseless.
“These reports are baseless and amount to rumour-mongering. No such proposal is under the consideration of the government,” the clarification said.
At the same time, sources in the ministry said that there had been strong protests from leaders of various political parties who had described the proposal as an attempt to demolish the democratic character of the cantonment boards.
While politicians from Punjab, one of the states having a large number of cantonments, were the most vocal in their protest over the proposed takeover, some senior Congress leaders had also written to the Defence Minister on the issue. Former Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had also vocally expressed his opposition to the move. Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of 22 cantonments.
There was a fear that the civilians residing in the cantonment areas may be asked to vacate their houses if the administration was handed over to the Army. There was also fear that the Army authorities may impose restrictions on the movement of civilians.
