No elections to Secunderabad Cantonment Board: MoS Defence

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that elections to Cantonment Boards, including Secunderabad, will not be held as an excision and merger process with State municipalities is underway. The development was welcomed by local civic activists and residents’ groups

Hyderabad: It is now confirmed that no elections will be held for the Cantonment Boards across the country, including the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB), as excision process is currently underway.

The Secunderabad Cantonment functions as a deemed civic body under the administration of the Ministry of Defence.

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Elections for the eight wards of SCB were last conducted in 2015. The elections were due in 2020 but were deferred due to the ongoing excision process.

SCB is among the Cantonment Boards shortlisted for excision.

This information was given in a reply by Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth in the ongoing Lok Sabha session.

In response to an unstarred question raised by Congress MP Varun Chaudhary (Ambala), on July 25, Minister Sanjay Seth said: “To bring uniformity in municipal laws governing Cantonment areas and adjoining State municipalities, a proposal for excision of civil areas of select Cantonments and their merger with adjoining municipalities has been initiated by the State governments. Since the outcome of the excision exercise may impact the governance structure of the Cantonment Boards, elections to the Cantonment Boards have not been conducted.”

Reacting to the Minister’s statement, Sanki Ravinder, secretary of SCB-based NGO Cantonment Vikas Manch (CVM), said in a statement to the media: “This is a long-pending demand, and we have been fighting for the merger. It is likely to become a reality now, ushering in a new era of governance and development for Cantonment areas. We welcome this move and look forward to the successful implementation of the merger proposal.”