CANTONMENT BOARD

“Cantonment board is an administrative body under the regulation of the Ministry of Defense in India that functions in the sector of water supply, primary education, and sanitation.

Cantonment board meaning

Cantonment board defines that it is a kind of central government regulated authority that supervises the different sectors such as sanitation, primary education, and others. A cantonment board is an administrative civic body that operates under the regulation of the Ministry of Defense in India. It is composed of eight members, three ex-officio members, three nominated military members, (garrison engineer, station commander and senior executive medical officer), and one representative of the DM (district magistrate). It is categorized into four parts: category I, II, III, IV. The category is divided based on the population of civilians. Category I contains above 50,000 populations, category II comprises 10,000 to 50,000 populations of civilians, Category III generally contains 2,500 to 10,000 populations and the last category, category IV contains populations below 2,500. In India, there are a total of 66 cantonment boards present right now.

Difference between cantonment and military station

Both the military stations and cantonment are principally established for monopolistic use of the military personnel in the performance of military duties. The facilities and land that were built belong to the central government of India. Cantonments are proclaimed places under parliament’s cantonment Act. On the other hand, Military stations are built by the central government of India through an executive order. Military stations do not have any statutory backing. It is governed and owned by Defense Services Regulations. Cantonment boards are categorized into various divisions such as A1, A2, B1, and B2. These are categorized according to their usage and purposes. A1 is only used for military purposes. The land of A1 category of both cantonment as well as military station is similar to each other. Military stations do not have other categories like a cantonment. The military stations are built for the sole purpose of the military whereas the cantonment functions in the development of different sectors such as street lighting, supply of water, proper sanitation, and many others. It provides different kinds of services to hospitals, schools, and roads. Simply, it operates like a municipality.

Cantonment board recruitment

The cantonment board recruitment publishes various notifications about different posts such as staff nurse, junior clerk, assistant medical officer, chowkidar, sanitary inspector. Candidates that have a qualification of HSC/graduation/ M.B.B.S are suitable to apply for the job. Eligible and interested candidates can apply through the official website of the cantonment board. The features regarding criteria of eligibility and methods of application include various important steps. The maximum age for an Assistant Medical officer post is between 23-32 years. On the other hand, the maximum age restriction for other jobs such as junior clerk, Staff nurse, Sanitary Inspector is between 21-30 years. The selection process for the Assistant Medical Officer is based on the candidate’s performance in a personality test or interview. In the case of Staff Nurse, Sanitary inspectors, and junior clerks, the selection process varies. For the post of junior clerk, candidates must have a graduation degree in any stream from a recognized university. They must have a certificate of basic knowledge of computers from any government authorized institution. The selection process depends upon only the written test. This written test contains 100 marks and the time that is given is 90 minutes. Qualified candidates that pass the written exam have to undergo a skill test.

Functions of cantonment board

The function of the cantonment board is to look over the key duties such as supervision of supply of water, primary education, maintenance of street lights and roads, construction and maintenance of drains, urinals, streets, bridges, markets, causeways and regulate the use of these, prevention of diseases, establishment and maintenance of vaccination system. It also takes into consideration the maintenance of public hospitals along with the planting of roadside trees and maintaining them.

Since the government of India owns all the resources, it does not pay any kind of tax. It also operates in maintaining, constructing streets, roads, bridges, drains, urinals, and markets. Roadside planting of trees and maintaining them is a part of their duty.

List of cantonment board

There are a total of 66 cantonment boards present in India. North India contains 9 cantonment boards (7 in Himachal Pradesh and 2 in J&K). The North-West part of India has 8 cantonments (1 in Delhi and 1 in Haryana, 3 in Punjab, and 3 in Rajasthan). The north-central zone has 9 cantonments in Uttarakhand. The central part of India has 18 cantonments (5 in MP and 13 in UP). The West part has 1 cantonment in Gujarat. The East part has 7 cantonments (Bihar, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, and Odisha each have 1 cantonment and west Bengal has 4 cantonments). The Southern part of India contains 4 cantonments (Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana and Tamil Nadu each contain 1 cantonment).

Importance of cantonment board

Cantonment maintains the area through the water supply, proper maintenance of sanitation, education, hospitals, and others. Besides these, it also provides training for the Army in a certain area.

Conclusion

In this discussion, the overview of the cantonment board is discussed through the help of cantonment board meaning, cantonment board recruitment, cantonment board recruitment. Along With all those, their role, functions, and importance in society are also described in this section. For the proper understanding of the cantonment board, one has to properly study this subject.