In a major relief to the Himachal Pradesh Government, the Ministry of Defence has agreed to transfer free of cost to the state the proprietary rights over all assets meant for providing civic amenities to the civilian population in cantonments.

As all civil areas, after their excision from cantonments, will be handed over to the state and merged with local municipalities in accordance with the latest guidelines, the residents have heaved a sigh of relief. Once the exercise is completed, the civilian population will be able to enjoy the benefits of various state government schemes and also undertake need-based repair and modifications in their buildings without following a rigorous procedure. The state government, for its part, will be able to impose taxes in such areas, which will be governed by local municipal laws.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was supposed to lease out its properties to the state government while retaining the ownership rights. Civil areas are currently being excised out of Himachal’s six cantonment towns of Kasauli, Dagshai, Subathu, Baklog, Jutogh and Dalhousie, an exercise that is being conducted nationally. The process was completed at Khas Yol in Kangra district last year.

The MoD has issued related directions to the Cantonment Executive Officers (CEOs) to liaise with the state government and apprise it of the status of such areas. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Director General Defence Estate held on June 26.

Confirming the development, Kasauli Sub-Divisional Magistrate Narayan Chauhan said, “Once the CEO sends the revised report based on the new directions to the state government, we will conduct a field assessment and prepare the final report.”

The municipal jurisdiction over the leased and old grant properties (OGPs) in the “excised” area shall also be transferred to state municipalities. “Though this is a welcome move, a majority of the OGPs are located outside civil areas on the defence land in towns like Kasauli. The owners of such properties are keen to be part of the “excising”. This will, however, require change in modalities as in the present scenario, only civilian areas are being excised from cantonments,” observed Devinder Gupta, former vice-president of the Kasauli cantonment board.

Of the total 688 acres in Kasauli Cantonment, the notified civil area (NCA) comprises 43.5 acres. It includes Sadar Bazaar, Market Bazaar, Mashobra, Slaughter House, Ettawa and Nahari. Out of these pockets, certain vacant land of Sadar Bazaar and Slaughter House area were earlier proposed to be retained by the defence authorities. These areas would also be excised from the cantonment, as per the MoD’s fresh guidelines.

The state government will be able to collect over Rs 50 lakh as house tax. This will be its sole commercial gain after merging certain NCAs into nearby panchayats.

What will change

• State to earn extra revenue from newly merged areas
• Owners of buildings can easily carry out need-based modifications in their properties