Himachal news: Excision exercise delayed, MoD convenes meeting tomorrow

Failure to finalise the excising exercise in the five cantonment towns of Himachal has delayed exclusion of civilian areas from these towns.

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While the Ministry of Defence will convene a key meeting on May 30 in Delhi to invite public objections and suggestions for 10 cantonments across the nation after issuance of its draft notification, in Himachal the exercise has been inordinately delayed. These 10 towns comprise Fatehgarh, Clement Town, Shahjahanpur, Mathura, Ramgarh, Dehradun, Deolali, Nasirabad, Babina and Ajmer where the draft notification was issued in March 2024 after completion of the process, as per the notifications accessed by The Tribune.

The excising exercise is underway in the six cantonment towns of Subathu, Dagshai and Kasauli (Solan); Bakloh and Dalhousie (Chamba); and Jutogh (Shimla) of the state.

Civilians residing in the cantonments of Himachal will have to wait for some more time before their area is excluded from the cantonment towns as the state government has refused to bear the annual liabilities amounting to Rs 30 crore for inheriting the liabilities including staff and upkeep of civic amenities in these towns.

Notably, Principal Secretary of the state Urban Development Department, had communicated to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in November 2024 that inheriting six-fold liabilities totalling Rs 30 crore, while barely earning Rs 5 crore in revenue from the six towns, would be unsustainable without receiving a grant-in-aid from the Centre. The concerns have been highlighted in a letter addressed to the Director, Defence Estate.

According to excising modalities, the state government is supposed to take over the civilian areas as well as the liabilities of its employees, pensioners and institutes such as schools and hospitals. While the onus of providing amenities in civilian areas will be shifted to the state, cantonment boards will continue to enjoy title rights over the transferred land.

Manmohan Sharma, general secretary, Himachal Pradesh Cantonments Association, while expressing concern at the delay, said a ray of hope has been lit with the MoD convening a meeting to complete the excising exercise in 10 cantonments as the recent hostilities with Pakistan had cast a shadow over its completion. He said the state government should pro-actively pursue the case of cantonments from Himachal as the residents were having anxious moments after the state government has sought central funds for bearing the liabilities.

Growth in the cantonment towns has been stunted due to stifling defence norms and residents were deprived of the benefits of various state and Central government schemes. Among 62 cantonment towns across the nation where the excising exercise was underway, the growth rate had increased by a mere 1.62 per cent in a decade. Kasauli had registered the lowest growth rate of 13.79 per cent among the six cantonments in the state as per the 2011 Census.