MoD convenes meet on Nov 29 to speed up excision exercise

In the absence of the government’s views on excising civilian areas from the six cantonment towns of the state, the proposed move has been hanging fire since May 2022. To speed up the process, the Union Ministry of Defence has convened a meeting with the state government on November 29 where the Joint Secretary (Land and Works) of the ministry will participate virtually.

Joint Director of the MoD’s Quartering and Cantonment Wing has asked the state government to attend the meeting and give its inputs on the subject, as per a November 14 letter.

The letter of the Union Ministry of Defence states that broad modalities of excising civilian areas from the limits of six cantonment towns of Kasauli, Jutog, Subathu, Dalhousie, Dagshai and Bakloh were shared with the state government on May 2022.

The six cantonment towns had sent detailed proposals to the state government along with the details of areas to be excluded. The cantonment boards of Dagshai, Kasauli and Jutogh had submitted their proposals to the state government in October 2023 while the proposal from Subathu was submitted on December 6, 2023. The Dalhousie cantonment board submitted its proposal on January 9 this year. The Baklog cantonment board accomplished the task in November 2023. Initially, the MoD was to lease properties to the state while retaining the ownership rights. However, later it proposed the full transfer of rights to the state government.

Under these guidelines, civilian areas, once excised from cantonments, would be integrated with local municipalities, allowing residents to benefit from state schemes and undertake repairs without the previously rigorous approval process.

In July, the MoD had formed a seven-member committee, led by a Joint Secretary, to chalk out the modalities for excising civilian areas from six cantonment towns in Himachal Pradesh. As per the directive, the committee was to submit its report within a week, covering issues like land and asset transfers, cantonment employees, pensions, cantonment funds, civic services, movable properties, records and other logistical elements.

A ray of hope has been lit among the residents of the cantonment board about the long pending exercise finally heading towards a conclusion as the state government will present its view.

The state government is expected to ponder over the proposals received from the cantonment boards and present its stand on November 29 to pave way for the final exclusion of the civilian areas.

Three cantonments of Dagshai, Kasauli and Subathu fall in Solan district while Baklog and Dalhousie lie in Chamba and Jutog is part of Shimla district.