Secunderabad Cantonment residents seek freehold ownership of defence-land homes

The Cantonment Vikas Manch has asked NITI Aayog to recommend freehold ownership and formal property titles for civilians living in settlements on defence land in Secunderabad Cantonment. In a representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as NITI Aayog chairman, the NGO said lakhs of civilians had lived in the cantonment’s civilian pockets for decades. It added that some families had served the Secunderabad Cantonment Board and Indian Army establishments.

The organisation said residents faced more than a documentation problem. According to its general secretary, Sanki Ravinder Babu, many people lacked the legal right to repair their homes, leaving some in dilapidated structures, huts or houses with weak walls. The group has sought legal allotment of the occupied land to existing residents, together with complete freehold ownership and official property titles.

It said this would allow families to construct safe and permanent homes. The demand forms part of a four-point proposal for restructuring civilian areas in cantonments. The first recommendation is to remove all civilian pockets from cantonment limits and merge them with adjoining urban local bodies.

The group also proposed that defence land remaining after the removal of civilian settlements be converted into exclusive Military Stations. It said separating civilian and military areas would improve privacy and security for the Armed Forces. The NGO linked ownership rights to wider civic problems.

It said cantonment residents faced persistent difficulties accessing basic infrastructure, modern amenities and equitable development funds, while the military-centred governance model restricted interventions by State municipalities and left civilian areas less developed than neighbouring urban localities.