Long-drawn struggle to get rural status in Yol Cantt fails to yield results

Lalit Mohan

Yol is a cantonment area, 6 km from Dharamsala, and is now the headquarters of the Rising Star Corps. The cantonment was established as a station for young officers to relax. Yol in British times was a place for ‘Young Officers on Leave’.

The Yol Cantonment Board was formed by the British here in 1941. At that time, they established a school here up to Class 10. Since then, the school has not been upgraded to Class XII. However, those residing here have been carrying out a long-drawn struggle demanding the abolition of the cantonment board, so that villages presently under the board could get rural status.

Residents of the cantonment board had been alleging that the board hardly provides them any urban facility and that they were being forced to pay urban taxes and denied the benefits of rural development schemes. Residents of the villages in cantonment board have been maintaining that they could get the benefits of MGNREGS and NRHM in case the cantonment board was abolished. The Dharamsala Municipal Corporation had passed a resolution demanding the inclusion of Yol Cantonment Board areas under its jurisdiction.

The members of Yol Cantonment Board Sangarsh Committee issued a statement that they do not want to be a part of the Dharamsala Municipal Corporation.

The move of the Dharamsala MC to include Yol Cantonment area within its limits drew flak from residents. Yol township and its surrounding villages are presently under the Yol Cantonment Board. In case the board gets abolished, they would like to exist as rural areas rather than being part of the corporation, residents had demanded. The resolution of the Dharamsala MC went to the state government that forwarded it to the Union Defence Ministry. However, the ministry has not taken any decision on it till date.

The present as well as the previous BJP governments had earlier written to the Ministry of Defence for the abolition of the Yol Cantonment Board. However, the request did not draw any positive response.

Yol is a very old cantonment board and is now the headquarters of the Rising Star Corps. Since the area is now sensitive from security point, residents around the cantonment area are facing problems due to heightened security. Passages to many villages around Yol pass through the cantonment board and entry on these roads is strictly controlled by the passes by the Army.

Even in case the Yol Cantonment Board is abolished, the corporation would face difficulties in coordinating with the Army to provide basic facilities to people in the area.