Lok Sabha Question No. 55 (STARRED), answered on 2019-02-06
Subject: Amendment of Cantonment Act
Ministry: DEFENCE
Asked by: KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE

## LOK  SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO.55

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 6 TH  FEBRUARY, 2019

## AMENDMENT OF CANTONMENT ACT

## *55. SHRI  KRUPAL  BALAJI  TUMANE:

Will the Minister of DEFENCE j{kk ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether her Ministry has constituted an expert committee to study and amend the Cantonment Act, 2006;
- (b) if  so,  the  names  of  persons  who  have  been  appointed  as  members  of  the  said committee along with the criteria adopted for appointment of such members;
- (c) whether  the  local  members  of  Parliament  have  been  included  in  the  said committee;
- (d) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  whether  Members  of  Parliament  of  local cantonment area are likely to be included in the said committee; and
- (e) whether members of All Cantonment Citizen Welfare Association are also likely to be included in the said committee and if so, the details thereof?

## A    N    S    W    E    R

MINISTER OF DEFENCE                                    (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

j{kk ea=h

¼Jherh  fueZyk lhrkje.k )

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 55 FOR ANSWER ON 6.2.2019

(a) & (b): Yes,  Madam.    An  Expert  Committee  has  been  constituted  on 'Working of Cantonment Boards' vide O.M. dated 31.08.2018.  One of the Terms of Reference of the Committee is 'To study the existing Cantonments  Act  and  to  make  specific  recommendations  for  suitably amending  the  Act  to  impart  modernization  and  democratization  of  the governance structure of Cantonment Boards'. The criteria  adopted  for  appointment  of  members  of the  Committee includes  past  background  and  sectoral  experience  on  issues  referred  to the  Committee.    Accordingly  members  appointed  are  those  who  have experience  in  administrative  matters,  law,  finance,  land  issues,  town planning, in addition to representative from the Army with subject matter knowledge.  The names of the Committee members are as under:

## Names of Committee Members Remarks

| (i)    | Shri Sumit Bose            | IAS (Retd.) Ex Revenue Secretary, Chairman.                         |
|--------|----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| (ii)   | Shri T.K. Vishwanathan,    | Ex. Secretary, Ministry of Law & Justice, Member.                   |
| (iii)  | Shri Ravi Kant Chopra,     | Ex. DG DE, Member.                                                  |
| (iv)   | Lt. Gen. Amit Sharma,      | PVSM, AVSM, Ex. C-in-C, SFC, Member.                                |
| (v)    | Shri Jayant Sinha,         | Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Member.                       |
| (vi)   | Ms. Devika Raghuvanshi,    | IDAS, PCDA (Air Force), Member.                                     |
| (vii)  | Maj. Gen. Dig Vijay Setia, | Ex-ADG (Lands, Works & Environment), (Retd.), Member.               |
| (viii) | Dr. Madhumita Roy,         | Professor, Department of Architecture, Jadavpur University, Member. |
| (ix)   | Shri Rakesh Mittal,        | Additional DG, DE, Member Secretary.                                |

:  2  :

(c) & (d): No,  Madam.    However,  the  views  of  Members  of  Parliament have been specifically obtained by the Committee, among others, through a meeting held with them on 5.1.2019. (e) No,  Madam.    However,  the  views  of  all  stakeholders  have  been sought by the Expert Committee through notices published on the website of  Directorate  General  Defence Estates  and  also the  Cantonment Boards. Various  Associations  as  well  as  members  of  the  public  have  submitted their views to the Committee.

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