A Defence Land Bill has been drafted and sent to the Defence Ministry for consideration. The Bill is slated to cover Defence lands falling outside the Cantonment areas like Aadarsh housing plots in Mumbai.

The Defence Estates Department has physically surveyed about 12,32,000 acres of Defence land, which is around 70% of the total Defence land. It also includes around 2,00,000 acres of high value lands.

Presently, total Defence land located across length and breadth of the country measures around 17,50,000 acres

Disclosing this information at the Defence Estates Day Celebrations here on Monday night, the Director General of Defence Estates Ravi Kant Chopra assured the august gathering that all Defence holdings would be physically surveyed and mapped before the end of the next year.

He informed that the work of digitization of land records has been completed by 44 out of 99 field offices. In respect of the remaining 55 offices, work has been completed to the extent of 65-75%.

Chopra said that with land survey, digitization of land records and inventorization of all files, the Department aim to create a comprehensive institutional memory, both in paper and electronic formats, which shall keep track of every event in relation to Defence lands.

He said that on the direction of the Defence Minister, AK Antony, all Cantonment Boards have fixed time limits for resolution of various types of complaints and also launched a grievance redressal system called ‘Samadhan’ to make the administration more responsive and accountable.

Chopra also informed that a draft of the Defence Land Bill, to provide statutory cover to Defence lands outside Cantonments, has also been prepared and submitted to the Ministry of Defence.

He said that last year the Defence Minister had exhorted the Estates department by saying “if the responsibility of the Armed Forces is to protect the territorial boundaries of our nation, then it is the duty of the Defence Estates Department to protect the defence lands within the country”. Spurred by this exhortation, the department is dedicated to the tasks which would lead to effective protection of Defence lands.

The Directorate General, Defence Estates, has under its jurisdiction six Principal Directorates, 37 Defence Estate Circles and four ADEO offices for management of Defence lands in the country. In the realm of land management 41 field level offices headed by IDES officers maintain records both in paper and digital format. The Defence Estate Department has a sanctioned strength of only 1251 personnel, including officers and staff.

Out of 62 Cantonment Boards, 53 Boards maintain and run 204 schools and 54 Boards run vocational centres. Cantonment Boards run 82 hospitals/dispensaries for the civilian denizens.In tune with the tenants of welfare government, 54 Cantonment Boards provide vocational training to those looking for acquiring skills and 13 Cantonment Boards have centres for differently-abled children and 12 more such Centres are being set up in other Cantonments.