Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad   

Election to Cantonment Board not in sight

By V. Geetanath

HYDERABAD, MAY 27. The advanced general elections have come and gone. But for the civilian population living in the vast expanse of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB), polls are nowhere on the horizon. Little more than a year after the elected body has ceased to exist on completion of its term, the Cantonment Board continues to be run by a varied body of officials.

And no one is in a position to hazard a guess about the schedule of the elections to civilian wards in the SCB.

Polls were last held in 1997 for seven wards. After five years, the elected representatives, who also have a vice-president, were allowed to function for a year in three extensions. The board has 14 members, seven of whom were elected.

Since March last year, the Varied Board, consisting of a military official and the Executive Officer, has been functioning under the presidentship of the Andhra Sub Area Commander without a civil nominee.

The SCB is among the 60-odd Cantonment Boards in the country where the elected body got dissolved, but the Defence Ministry delayed holding elections as it wanted to amend the Cantonment Act of 1924.

Few are sure about the state of the bill -- whether it has been introduced in Parliament and, if so, whether it's in the Rajya Sabha or the Lok Sabha and when it is likely to be passed. "Even if the bill is passed in Parliament as an immediate priority by the new Government, the preparatory schedule is such that elections can be held only after a year," says a SCB official.

That's because the Cantonment Board is to be demarcated into eight wards, which means it will have eight elected representatives and eight officials (military and civil), including the Executive Officer. Two months time is required for taking up the survey for delineating boundaries of wards, record to be published, two more months for taking objections and then the official gazette notification. Following which the electoral rolls have to be revised.

Only then can elections to the eight wards be held, points out the official. In the meantime, the Varied Board continues because as per the Cantonment Act it can function till the elections are held. The board should have a civilian nominee as per rules, but it has none. The Defence Ministry, for unexplained reasons, did not clear names sent for approval.

Interested parties had also approached the courts from Secunderabad, Ferozepur (Punjab) and Wellington (Tamil Nadu) Cantonment Boards seeking appointment of a civilian nominee. The announcement of general elections in the meantime came to the Ministry's rescue despite issuance of contempt notices for ignoring court orders in this aspect. It is now being expected that a fresh name could come into reckoning with the change in Government.

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