New Delhi: Uttarakhand CM Dhami pays courtesy visit to Rajnath Singh

New Delhi [India], July 1 : Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami paid a courtesy call to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Saturday. The Chief Minister requested the Union Defense Minister to dissolve the Cantonment Boards in Ranikhet and Lansdowne and transfer the areas outside the military stations to the state administration.

The Chief Minister welcomed the decision to dissolve the Cantonment Boards at Yol in Himachal Pradesh and merge the civil areas of the Cantonments with the Municipalities and re-designate the Cantonments as Military Stations.

The Chief Minister said that Ranikhet and Lansdowne were not strategic cantonments, so they should be disbanded on priority. Dissolution of Cantonment Boards and transfer of civil areas in these cities to local municipalities/district administration will benefit the local population. It will also help in unlocking the tourism potential of the city.

Expressing gratitude to the Chief Minister for recommending the opening of an Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme(ECHS) centre for ex-servicemen and their dependents in the Rudraprayag district of the state, requested to open a CSD canteen for ex-servicemen and their dependents in the premises of this ECHS polyclinic.

The Chief Minister requested to transfer four acres of National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) land for the expansion of Jolly Grant Airport. The state government is ready to provide alternative land to NRTO.

The Chief Minister requested the Union Defence Minister to allow the State Government to use Joshimath and Dharchula Army helipads for operating Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) services.

The Chief Minister has given about one acre of B-3 Defense located in the cantonment as an alternative due to the evacuation of the sub-office being operated under a temporary arrangement on the land provided on lease by the Uttarakhand sub-area in Garhi Cantt, Cantonment Complex, Dehradun. It was also requested to consider shifting the sub-panel office on the ground.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh assured Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami of all possible cooperation.