Army Considers Abolishing Cantonments to Reduce Maintenance Costs

Army mulls over abolishing cantonments to reduce maintenance costs. Seeks ‘absolute control’ over military areas.

One of the gates at the Kanpur Cantonment Board.

(Photo Courtesy: Cantonment Board, Kanpur)

The Indian Army is considering abolishing all cantonments in the country and converting them into exclusive military stations in an effort to save funds spent on maintenance.

According to a report by The Times of India, the Army has conveyed to the Ministry of Defence that it would have absolute control over the areas within the cantonment that can be converted into exclusive military stations. Meanwhile, civilian areas can be handed over to local municipal authorities for maintenance.

How did the cantonments come to be?

In 1765, the British set up the first cantonment, Barrackpore, to house troops in West Bengal. Soon after that, two other cantonments came up – Danapur in Bihar in 1765 and St Thomas Mount in Chennai (then Madras) in 1774.

The number of cantonments grew over the years and is now 62. These 62 cantonments cover almost 2 lakh acres of land. That’s the size of Mumbai and Kolkata put together.

In total, over 50 lakh people reside in these 62 cantonments – military personnel and civilians included. Rest of the areas are occupied by military stations, airbases, naval bases, firing ranges and camping grounds among other sections.

Why abolish the cantonments?

The TOI report stated that the top Army hierarchy believe that handing over civilian areas within the cantonments over to municipal authorities will help reduce the strain on the defence budget. According to reports, the budget for the maintenance of cantonments this year, amounted to Rs 476 crores.

This move could also benefit civilians who reside in the cantonment area. At the moment, they cannot access various welfare schemes provided by the central and state governments. Once these areas are places under the ambit of the municipal authorities, government schemes will be available to the residents.

When cantonments were initially set up across the country, they were located far from populated cities. However, with population expanding into the cantonment area over the last few years, there has been a massive uproar over accessibility of cantonment roads to civilians.

Is the move feasible?

According to the TOI report, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat ordered a study on whether the move would be feasible. It will be concluded by September this year.

The proposal to abolish cantonments is not new. Under a study team chaired by the defence secretary on the “Relevance of Cantonments in India” in 2015, the Mhow, Lucknow, Almora, Ahmednagar, Ferozepur and Yol cantonments were identified for excision of civilian areas. It is already underway at Yol.

A senior officer to The Times of India

Why are people divided over the move?

The recommendation of merging cantonment areas with local municipal corporations is not new. In 1948, a committee headed by SK Patil had recommended the same. In 1956, the Estimates Committee of the Parliament had recommended abolition of cantonments and their conversion to pure military stations.

Sections of officials are supporting the move as they believe this will relieve the Army of its responsibility to also maintain civilian sections of the cantonment areas. This could cut down its expenditure drastically.

With introduction of GST, the toll tax system of cantonment has also been abolished. Cantonments, therefore, are unable to self-sustain themselves because of meagre resources available to them for maintenance and reluctance of state governments to share GST revenues with cantonment boards.

An official to <i>The Times of India</i>

The key concern that most people have over handing over cantonment land to municipal authorities, is the likelihood of unchecked construction and development in these areas.