SCB elections on April 30, MoD’s announcement evokes mixed response

MoD has announced notification for holding elections to 57 Cantonment Boards including Secunderabad Cantonment Board on April 30

Hyderabad: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced notification for holding elections to 57 Cantonment Boards including Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) on April 30.

The SCB comprises eight wards and as per the 2019 reservations, while the II, V and VI wards are reserved for women, I, III, IV and VII are reserved for the general category and ward VIII is reserved for Scheduled Castes.

This year too, the election would be held based on free symbols and the reservation of the wards would also be the same, confirmed a member of SCB. The last SCB elections were held in 2015 and its term was completed in 2020. After the board’s term concluded, the tenure was extended to another three years.

The election announcement received a mixed response from people staying in SCB. While some welcomed the notification, some pointed out that the merger of civil areas of SCB with GHMC would be delayed due to the electoral process.

“I welcome the move, and the election will be fought on free symbols in all eight wards,” said SCB former vice president J Rama Krishna.

Chandrasekhar Sankaran from Open Secunderabad Cantonment Area Roads (OSCAR) said the election would further delay the merger of SCB areas with GHMC.

“Though the election was pending after the end of the board’s tenure, with the MoD announcing the election notification for SCB along with other Cantonment Boards, the proposal to merge some SCB areas with GHMC will be delayed,” he said.