29-Sep-2022: Waste processing capacities of urban local bodies (ULBs) increase from a mere 18% in 2014 to 73% at present

Speaking about India’s exemplary journey of becoming Open Defecation Free (ODF), Shri Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas, remarked that when the honourable Prime Minister announced the Swachh Bharat Mission from the ramparts of the Red Fort on 15 August 2014, he spoke of the need to make India Open Defecation Free (ODF) by the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi in October 2019. Such a large-scale transformation had never been imagined before. Despite a poor performance on sanitation till then, India achieved the target of ODF in the next five years because the mission evolved to become a ‘Jan Andolan’ instead of a typical sarkari programme.

Addressing the inaugural event of Swachh Shehar Samvad and Tech Exhibition today, the Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs said that as a result of efforts under SBM, all 4,372 ULBs (100%) in India have now been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). Not only did we build over 73.45 lakh individual and community toilets, we also restored dignity and health to millions of urban poor, including the Divyaang Jan. At the same time, waste processing capacities of urban local bodies (ULBs) have increased from a mere 18% in 2014 to 73% at present. We are now accelerating implementation to reach 100% saturation at the earliest.

Swachh Shehar Samvad & the Tech Exhibition was inaugurated by Shri Hardeep S. Puri here today. Shri Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), senior officers from Ministry, representatives of State governments and other stakeholders were also present at the event.

Noting the importance of ‘Waste to Wealth’ for a circular economy and efforts of government for transforming India to a ‘Garbage-Free India’, Shri Hardeep S. Puri mentioned that “India is embarking on its next journey of Swachhata under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) 2.0. We are now targeting to go from an ODF India to a ‘Garbage-Free India’. He further added that the second iteration of the Mission has been launched with an overall outlay of nearly 2.5 times of the first mission. The increased budget is an affirmation of the confidence placed upon the government by the people of India. Continuing with the ethos of SBM (U), the overarching principle towards this next journey of Swachhata is based on the philosophy of “waste to wealth”, and adopts the principles of circular economy as its core tenets.

During the event, the Minister highlighted the key actions and initiatives under the Swachh Bharat Mission. He mentioned about setting up of Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) in every city for ensuring further sorting, processing or recycling of segregated dry waste and setting up of processing/upcycling facilities for Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste.

Speaking about the ‘Lakshya Zero Dumpsite Challenge’, the Minister said that all legacy dumpsites containing 16 crore metric tonnes of waste, and taking up 15,000 acres of prime land, will be remediated within the mission period. I am proud to note that Action Plans for over 1,000 legacy dumpsites—including those in Delhi—containing 12.8 crore metric tonnes waste have been approved by MoHUA, with total project cost of more than 8000 crore rupees, of which the Centre is contributing almost 3,000 crore rupees.

Bio-methanation plants and waste-to-energy plants are being put up in large cities, he said.

Swachh Shehar Samvad & the Tech Exhibition, inaugurated today is a capacity building initiative of the Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0 to equip States and Cities with an understanding of all recent developments in waste management. It comprises high quality technical and administrative discussions specially curated around topics related to management of municipal solid waste and liquid waste to enable States and cities to deliberate on strategies, best practices, and challenges in their journey towards Garbage Free status. The Tech exhibition showcasing best-in-class models in waste management from across the country is also a part of the Samvad. Around 35 technology providers are demonstrating cutting edge technology in waste management. Working models are on display on various aspects of solid waste management/sanitation such as IT and GIS based applications, used water management, packaging options and 3Rs(Reduce-Recycle-Reuse), processing of municipal solid waste, mobile and portable units, construction and demolition waste and remediation measures. There are also thematic experiential exhibitions on mission initiatives inclusive of Garbage Free Cities, aspirational toilets, used water management etc.

17-Sep-2021: Grant of Rs. 2427 crore released to States for Urban Local Bodies

The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance today released an amount of Rs. 2427 crore to 11 States for the Urban Local Bodies.  The amount released is the 1st instalment of tied grants for the year 2021-22.  These grants have been provided for the Non-Million Plus cities (NMPCs) including Cantonment Boards. 

The 15th Finance Commission in its report for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26 has divided the Urban Local Bodies into two categories: (a) Million-Plus urban agglomerations/cities (excluding Delhi and Srinagar), and (b) all other cities and towns with less than one million population(Non-Million Plus cities) and has recommended separate grants for them. Out of the total grants recommended by the Commission for Non-Million Plus cities, 40% is basic (untied) grant  and the remaining 60% is as tied grant.  Basic grants(untied) can be utilised for location specific felt needs except for payment of salary and incurring other establishment expenditure.

On the other hand, tied grants for the Non-Million Plus cities are released for supporting and strengthening the delivery of basic services out of which 50% is earmarked for ‘Sanitation Solid Waste Management and attainment of star ratings as developed by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MOH&UA) and the remaining 50% is tied to ‘Drinking water, rainwater harvesting and water recycling’.

The tied grants are meant to ensure availability of additional funds to urban local bodies over and above the funds allocated by the Centre and the State for sanitation and drinking water under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes and provide quality services to citizens.

The States are required to transfer the grants to the ULBs within 10 working days of receipt from the Union Government.  Any delay beyond 10 working days requires the State Governments to release the grants with interest.

5-Aug-2021: Grant of Rs. 685.80 crore released to Urban Local Bodies(ULBs)

The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has released an amount of Rs. 685.80 crore to 4 States for providing grants to the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).  Out of this, an amount of Rs.494 crore has been released to Uttar Pradesh, Rs.110.20 crore to Gujarat, Rs. 74.80 crore to Jharkhand and Rs.6.80 crore to Mizoram.

Grants for Urban Local Bodies have been released as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission.  They are aimed at improving basic civic services including fulfilling location specific felt needs. These grants are intended for smaller (Non-Million Plus) cities including cantonment Boards. 

The 15th Finance Commission has divided the urban local bodies into two categories: (a) Million-Plus urban agglomerations/cities (excluding Delhi and Srinagar), and (b) all other cities and towns with less than one million population (Non-Million Plus cities). Out of the 15th Finance Commission recommended grants for Non-Million Plus cities, 50% is basic (untied) and the remaining 50% as tied grant.

Basic grants (untied) can be utilised for location specific felt needs except for salary or other establishment expenditure. The tied grants are to be utilized for (a) drinking water (including rainwater harvesting and recycling) and (b) solid waste management.

The grants are meant to ensure provision of additional funds to urban local bodies over and above the funds allocated by the Centre and the State for sanitation and drinking water under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes.

The States are required to transfer the grants to the ULBs within 10 working days of receipt from the Union Government.  Any delay beyond 10 working days requires the State Governments to release the grants with interest.

18-March-2018: Need to Strengthen and Empower Urban Local Bodies(ULBS) for Equitable, Sustainable and Democratic Process of Urban Transformation - Hardeep Puri

1. Strengthen ULBs by greater decentralization and empower them by meaningful devolution of the 3Fs i.e funds , functions and functionaries.
2. The state governments were expected to devolve functional autonomy, administrative support and financial resources to the local bodies, but success on this front has been unsatisfactory.
3. A radical change is needed if cities are to provide a socio-economic environment that will be inclusive, contribute to better quality of life, and sustain rapid growth. To achieve this following steps are necessary 
   1. Local governments should have functional autonomy
   2. They should have financial autonomy and should aim to be financially viable.
   3. Parastatals should not be allowed to undermine the authority of ULBs.
   4. Need to establish a dedicated and a specialised trained cadre to serve and cater to the complex needs of Urban local body governance.

Participatory democracy, transparency and accountability are the key pillars for new urban governance where formal participation procedures should be complemented by collaborative partnerships which go beyond consultation of policies/interventions, recognizing ward committees and area sabhas as active “partners” Innovative and effective participation tools should be adopted to foster meaningful engagement bringing equality, Liveability and democratic governance to the process of urban transformation.

There is urgent need to establish urban local bodies as viable units and the unfinished agenda of reforms in 74th amendment needs to be taken up with high priority . He reiterated the Centre's commitment to positively consider the suggestions and recommendations which came up during the event for improvement in local self-governance.

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15-Feb-2017: Nagaland women demand 33% constitutional Reservation in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

Issue: 74th amendment of the Constitution, provides for 33% reservation to women in municipalities. But, Article 243T(reservation of seats for women) conflicts with Article 371A(Naga customary law) of the constitution. As a result women are not allowed to run the institutions of governance.

Background: Nagaland Municipal (First Amendment) Act of 2006 adopted 74th constitutional amendment provision to provide reservation for women in ULBs. But elections were not held and only one Naga woman was elected to the Parliament. Naga Hoho, a body of 16 tribal groups, say that women representation in ULBs is against their customary law and argues that they are not against women’s representation in these bodies but won't accept nomination to ULBs with voting rights. Contrastingly, the village council bodies in the state have 25% reservation for women.

 

22-Sep-2022: MOD signs a deal for dual role Surface-to-Surface BrahMos missile with BAPL

Providing further impetus to Aatmanirbharta in defence production, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) signed a contract today with M/s BrahMos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. (BAPL) for acquisition of additional dual-role capable Surface to Surface BrahMos missiles at an overall approximate cost of  ₹ 1700 Crore under “Buy-Indian” Category. Induction of these dual-role capable Missiles is going to significantly enhance the operational capability of Indian Navy (IN) fleet assets.

 It is notable that BAPL is a Joint Venture (JV) between India and Russia making crucial contribution to augment the new generation Surface-to-Surface Missiles (SSMs) with enhanced range and dual role capability for land as well as anti-ship attacks. This contract is going to give further boost to indigenous production of critical weapon system and ammunition with active participation of indigenous industry.

21-Sep-2022: Ministry of Defence signs MoU with Bank of Baroda and HDFC Bank to expand the reach of SPARSH initiative

The Defence Accounts Department signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today with Bank of Baroda and HDFC Bank, to onboard them as Service Centres under the System for Pension Administration (Raksha) (SPARSH) initiative, across more than 14,000 branches throughout India. The MoU was signed in the presence of Defence Secretary Dr. Ajay Kumar, Financial Adviser (Defence Services) Smt. Rasika Chaube and Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA), Shri Avinash Dikshit, by Shri Sham Dev, Controller of Defence Accounts (CDA) Pensions, PCDA (Pensions) Prayagraj and senior executives of Bank of Baroda and HDFC bank.

Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar said that the objective is to bring 17 Lakh pensioners out of the total 32 lakh defence pensioners on SPARSH by the end of September, 2022 and the remaining pensioners will be brought to SPARSH at the earliest. He said that the average time in pension settlement has come down significantly to about 16 days.

The MoU will onboard more than 7900 branches of Bank of Baroda and 6300 branches of HDFC Bank as Service Centres to provide last mile connectivity to pensioners, especially those who live in remote areas of the country and those who do not have the means or technical wherewithal to logon to SPARSH. For these pensioners, the Service Centers will become an interface for SPARSH and provide an effective medium for pensioners to perform profile update requests, register grievances and seek redressal, digital annual identification, pensioner data verification or also simply fetch detailed information regarding their monthly pension.

These centres would further augment the existing network of more than 161 DAD offices and nearly 800 Service Centres provided by State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank branches, and 14 branches of the Kotak Mahindra Bank. More than 4.5 lakh Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) will also assist Defence Pensioners, as part of the Common Service Centres (CSC) network. The access to these service centers would be provided free of cost to the pensioners, with nominal service charges being borne by the Department.

Providing impetus to Digital India initiative, SPARSH has grown exponentially with more than Rs 11,600 Crores disbursed in the Financial Year 2021-22, from just about Rs 57 crores in FY 2020-21. The total number of pensioners onboard SPARSH has crossed over one million mark with 11 lakh beneficiaries, which is about 33% of the total defence pensioners in India.

SPARSH is a web-based system for processing the pension claims and crediting the pension directly into the bank accounts of defence pensioners without any external intermediary.  It has been designed to give Defence Pensioners a transparent view of their pension account, through an online portal (https://sparsh.defencepension.gov.in/) which captures and maintains a complete history of events and entitlements of the pensioner – right from the date of commencement of pension to the date of cessation of pension due to the last eligible beneficiary.

This system is administered by the Defence Accounts Department through the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions), Prayagraj and caters to all the three Services and allied organization. The system on roll-out is initially catering to the new retirees and subsequently is being extended to cover the existing defence pensioners.

15-Jul-2022: Ministry of Defence sets up an Apex Committee for Performance and Efficiency Audit

The Ministry of Defence has set up an institutional mechanism comprising of an Apex committee with Defence Secretary as Chairman to conduct a Performance and Efficiency Audit into various aspects of its activities. This kind of audit is expected to provide valuable inputs to the top management of the Ministry of specific shortcomings, if any, in planning and execution of projects, and suggest systemic improvements in internal controls, soundness of financial procedures, identification of risk factors, etc. It is a major shift from the existing transaction-based compliance audit to carry out an outcome-based Performance/ Efficiency Audit aimed at enhancing overall efficiency.

The members of the committee include Vice Chiefs of the three Services, Secretary Defence (Finance), Chief of Integrated Staff Committee (CISC), Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA), Director General (Acquisition) and other senior officials of Ministry of Defence and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The broad areas that have been identified for the conduct of Performance and Efficiency Audit include Defence Capital Procurements, provisioning, logistics, inventory levels, Maintenance of platforms/ assets, role and performance of Authority Holding Sealed Particulars (AHSP) etc. the Apex committee can also recommend any other specific area for Performance and Efficiency Audit.

The committee chaired by Defence Secretary will identify specific areas for the conduct of performance and audit by CGDA and monitor performance audit reports and action taken thereon. It also shall advise Raksha Mantri on remedial measures to be adopted as well as measures for overall improvement in strengthening of internal oversight and Risk Management Framework.

31-May-2022: MoD signs over Rs 2,900 crore contract with BDL for procurement of ASTRA Mk I Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile System & Associated Equipment for Indian Air Force & Indian Navy

In a major boost to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, Ministry of Defence, on May 31, 2022, signed a contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for supply of ASTRA MK-I Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Air to Air Missile (AAM) and associated equipment for the Indian Air Force & Indian Navy at a cost of Rs 2,971 crore under Buy (Indian-IDDM) category.

Till now, the technology to manufacture missile of this class indigenously was not available. ASTRA MK-I BVR AAM has been Indigenously Designed & Developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) based on the Staff Requirements issued by the Indian Air Force (IAF) catering for Beyond Visual Range as well as Close Combat Engagement reducing the dependency on foreign sources. Air to Air missile with BVR capability provides large Stand Off Ranges to own fighter aircraft which can neutralise the adversary aircraft without exposing itself to adversary Air Defence measures, thereby gaining & sustaining superiority of the Air Space. This missile is technologically and economically superior to many such imported missile systems.

ASTRA MK-I missile and all associated systems for its launch, ground handling & testing has been developed by DRDO in coordination with the IAF. The missile, for which successful trials have already been undertaken by the IAF, is fully integrated on the Su 30 MK-I fighter aircraft & will be integrated with other fighter aircraft in a phased manner, including the Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas). The Indian Navy will integrate the missile on the MiG 29K fighter aircraft.

The Transfer of Technology from DRDO to BDL for production of ASTRA MK-I missile and all associated systems has been completed and production at BDL is in progress. This project will act as a catalyst for development of Infrastructure and Testing facilities at BDL. It will also create opportunities for several MSMEs in aerospace technology for a period of at least 25 years. The project essentially embodies the spirit of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and will help facilitate realising the country’s journey towards self-reliance in Air to Air Missiles.  

30-Apr-2022: MoD procurement through GeM reaches all-time high of over Rs 15,000 crore for Financial Year 2021-22

Procurement orders by Ministry of Defence (MoD) through Government e-Market (GeM) portal have reached an all-time high of Rs 15,047.98 crore for Financial Year 2021-22. It is a jump of more than 250 percent over the last financial year. The GeM was started in August 2016 to revamp the old tender process and bring greater probity and transparency in government procurement through digitisation. In a short span since its inception, the MoD has embraced the digital drive and embarked on this path with absolute resoluteness. Despite multiple challenges on ground, the results have been astounding.

The MoD is committed to contribute significantly to the Government's vision of promoting digitisation and transparency in consonance with Digital India.

28-Mar-2022: MoD signs Rs 473 crore contract with GSL for construction of eight Fast Patrol Vessels for Indian Coast Guard

Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) for construction of eight Fast Patrol Vessels for Indian Coast Guard at a total project cost of Rs 473 crore. The contract was signed by Joint Secretary (Maritime & Systems) Shri Dinesh Kumar and Chairman & Managing Director, GSL Cmdre BB Nagpal (Retd) in New Delhi on March 28, 2022.

These surface platforms will be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured by GSL under Buy (Indian-IDDM) Category. These eight high speed vessels will be based along the coast of India with capability to operate in shallow waters and enhance the security apparatus along the vast coast line.

While meeting the objectives of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, this would boost the indigenous shipbuilding capability and increase employment opportunities in the sector. The contract will further boost the Government’s resolve of making India a defence manufacturing hub which caters to not only the domestic needs but also the export market.

11-Mar-2022: Ministry of Defence identifies 18 major platforms for industry led Design and Development

In a significant boost to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision on ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’, and in sync with the announcement in the Union Budget 2022-23 that allocated 25% of Defence R & D Budget for industry led R & D, 18 major platforms have been identified by the Ministry of Defence for industry led Design & Development under various routes. The list is as follows:

Make-I

1. Hypersonic Glide Vehicle
2. Directed Energy Weapons (300 KW and more) [High Powered Electromagnetic Devices and High Powered Laser Devices]
3. Naval Ship Borne Unmanned Aerial System (NSUAS)
4. Light Weight Tank
5. Self-Healing Mine Fields
6. Unmanned Autonomous AI Based Land Robot
7. 127 mm Naval Gun
8. 127 mm Guided Projectile
9. Electric Propulsion (Engines) for Ships
10. Standoff Airborne Jammer
11. Li-ion Cells/ Li-Sulphur Cells [Portable High Capacity Energy Systems replacing the Conventional Hydrocarbons
12. Communication System (AFNET System Switches, routers, Encryptors& VOIP phones)
13. Electro Optical (EO) Pod (with subsequent upgrade to EO/IR) with high resolution sensing
14. ‘Plug and Play’ Housing/ Infrastructure for soldiers posted at extreme altitudes.

Under the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020, ‘Make’ Category aims to achieve self-reliance by involving greater participation of Indian industry.  Projects involving design and development of equipment, systems, major platforms or upgrades thereof by the industry can be taken up under this category. For Projects under Make-I sub-category, Ministry of Defence will provide financial support up to 70% of total cost of prototype development.

Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Model: Under SPV model, private industry will be encouraged to take up design and development of military platforms and equipment in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and other organizations.  Following two platforms have been identified under this category.

15. Long Range Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) [High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE)]
16. Indian Multi Role Helicopter (IMRH)

iDEX: Projects of Start-ups, MSMEs etc. involving high-end innovation would be pursued under the iDEX category and the following platform has been selected under this category.

17. Low Orbit Pseudo Satellites

Make-II

Under Make-II, which is funded by industry with assured procurement, following platform has been listed.

18. Anti-jamming Systems for Multiple Platforms

Out of 18 major platforms mentioned above, following four platforms have been already accorded Approval-In-Principle (AIP) under Make-I category on 03 March 2022:

1. Communication System (AFNET System Switches, routers, Encryptors& VOIP phones)
2. EO Pod (with subsequent upgrade to EO/IR) with high resolution sensing
3. Standoff Airborne Jammer
4. Light Weight Tanks

The indigenous development of these projects will help harness the design capabilities of domestic defence industry and position India as a design leader in these technologies.

3-Mar-2022: MoD accords in-principle approval to four projects under Make-I (Government Funded) & five under Make-II (industry-funded) categories of Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020

In a major boost to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s clarion call for ‘Aatmanirbharta’, Ministry of Defence (MoD), in a landmark step, has offered four projects to the Indian Industry for design & development under Make-I category of Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020. The industry will be provided financial support for prototype development of these projects. The list of projects which were accorded ‘Approval In-Principle (AIP)’ by Collegiate Committee of MoD is as follow:

• Indian Air Force: Communication Equipment with Indian Security Protocols (Routers, Switches, Encryptors, VoIP Phones and their software)
• Indian Air Force: Airborne Electro Optical pod with Ground Based System
• Indian Air Force: Airborne Stand-off Jammer
• Indian Army: Indian Light Tank

This is for the first time since the launch of industry-friendly DAP-2020 that Indian Industry has been involved in development of big ticket platforms such as Light tank and Communication Equipment with Indian security protocols.

In addition, AIP has also been accorded to following five projects under industry-funded Make-II procedure:

• Indian Air Force: Full Motion Simulator for Apache Helicopter
• Indian Air Force: Full Motion Simulator for Chinook Helicopter
• Indian Air Force: Wearable Robotic Equipment for Aircraft Maintenance
• Indian Army: Integrated Surveillance and Targeting System for Mechanised Forces
• Indian Army: Autonomous Combat Vehicle

Projects under 'Make-II' category involve prototype development of equipment/system/platform or their upgrades or their sub-systems/sub-assembly/assemblies/components, primarily for import substitution/innovative solutions, for which no Government funding will be provided for prototype development purposes.

The indigenous development of these projects in the country will help harness the design capabilities of Indian defence Industry and position India as a design leader in these technologies.

24-Feb-2022: MoD signs contract worth 1075 crore with M/s BEL for the supply of 957 Commander Thermal Imager cum Day Sights for T-90 Tanks

Providing a further boost to the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Government of India in the Defence Sector, the Acquisition Wing of the Ministry of Defence has today signed a contract for Rs. 1075 crore with M/s Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for the retro-modification of Commander Sight of Battle Tanks-T-90. The retro-modification will be carried out in 957 T-90 tanks of the Indian Army.

Commander sight of Battle Tank T-90, India’s premier battle tank, is presently fitted with Image Converter (IC) tube-based sight for night viewing.  Based on the requirement projected by the Indian Army, DRDO and BEL have jointly designed and developed an advanced Mid Wave Thermal Image (MWIR) based sight as a replacement for the existing IC-based sight.

The new retro-modified Commander sight employs a thermal imager capable of detecting the targets at 8 Kms during day and night and a Laser Ranger Finder (LRF) to find the ranges accurately up to 5 Kms, thereby enhancing its capability to engage target at longer ranges. With the corrections from ballistic software and LRF, the Commander of T-90 can detect, engage and neutralize the targets with phenomenal accuracy. The indigenously developed sight completed extensive evaluations under field conditions successfully.

The successful indigenous development of Thermal Imager based Commander Sight will provide further fillip to indigenous R&D and defence manufacturing.

9-Jan-2022: MoD surveys 17.78 lakh acres of Defence Land in a little over three years using modern surveying technologies

As per the records maintained by Defence Estates Offices, the Ministry of Defence owns large tracts of land admeasuring about 17.99 lakh acres out of which approximately 1.61 lakh acres is situated within the 62 notified Cantonments. About 16.38 lakh acres is spread across many pockets outside the Cantonments. Out of 16.38 lakh acres land, about 18,000 acres is either state hired land or is proposed for deletion from records on account of transfer to other Govt. Depts.

Clear demarcation and boundary survey of defence lands and fixing of the boundaries is necessary for protection of the defence land, safeguarding of the title of MOD, updation of land records, maps and prevention of encroachments. Towards this end, the Directorate General Defence Estates, Ministry of Defence commenced the Survey of defence land from October 2018.

The entire exercise of survey of about 1.61 lakh acres of defence land inside cantonments and 16.17 lakh acres outside cantonments (total 17.78 lakh acres) survey has been completed. It is a remarkable achievement since for the first time after independence, entire defence land has been surveyed by using latest survey technology and in a large number of pockets in association with the Revenue authorities of various State Governments. The magnitude of land holding, location of land in approximately 4,900 pockets across the country, inaccessible terrain in many places and association of various stakeholders makes this survey one of the largest land surveys in the country.

Modern survey technologies like Electronic Total Station (ETS) and Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) were used in the survey. To further speed up the process, Drone imagery and Satellite imagery based survey were leveraged for reliable, robust and time bound outcomes.

For the first time, Drone imagery based survey technology was used for survey of lakhs of acres of defence land in Rajasthan. The entire area was surveyed with the help of Surveyor General of India in a matter of weeks, which earlier used to take years.

Besides this, Satellite Imagery based survey was done for the first time for many defence land pockets, especially for certain pockets again measuring lakhs acres of defence land.

3D Modelling techniques for better visualisation of defence land in hilly area have also been introduced by utilising Digital Elevation Model (DEM) in association with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

During the last 6 months, as a result of the active intervention of Defence Secretary and use of latest survey technologies, the survey progressed at a much faster pace, which is evident from the fact that out of 17.78 lakh acres, 8.90 lakh acres was surveyed during the last three months.

As a part of Survey, a project for real time change detection system based on the Time series Satellite imagery for detection of encroachments on defence land has also been initiated. Pilot test has been carried out on satellite imageries of defence land pockets procured from National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad.

Geo-referenced and digitised shape files are made available to enable quick decision making by officials of DGDE & MoD.

Association of Revenue officials in survey will eventually help in reducing boundary disputes amongst stakeholders and would also help in resolving legal disputes at various levels.

Completion of such a humongous survey has been made possible due to Capacity Building of technical personnel and officers of Defence Estates Organisation in latest technologies for Land survey over the years in association with premier institutes like National Remote Sensing Centre and National Institute for Geo-Informatics Science and Technology.

A Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Land Survey and GIS mapping has also been established in NIDEM (National Institute of Defence Estates Management) for capacity building of Defence Estates officials in the field of latest survey technologies. The CoE aims to be an apex survey institution capable to impart training of various levels to the officers of Central & State Govt. Depts. CoE also aims to use SLAM/GIS technologies in better land management & town planning process. Hon’ble Raksha Mantri while inaugurating the Centre of Excellence during last month exhorted DGDE organization to continue to excel in the field survey and building capacity in using GIS based technologies

This mammoth exercise of survey of nearly 18 lakh acres of defence land spread pan India, which hitherto rested on the fulcrum of herculean human efforts, is a unique example of leveraging emerging technologies for land survey in a short time in line with the Central Govt’s emphasis on Digital India. The fact that such an exercise has been conducted after 75 years of Independence, also makes it a part of celebrations under the AZADI KA AMRUT MAHOTSAV.

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