Ramgarh Cantonment Board grapples with funds crunch

Ramgarh: The lone civic body in the state, the Ramgarh Cantonment Board, under the administrative control of the ministry of defence has been struggling for survival with acute shortage of funds for providing civic amenities to the people of the garrison town.
Amid a funds crunch, the Cantonment Board of Ramgarh has been getting a very little financial support from the urban development department of the state government which is not enough to carry out civic activities.
The ministry of defence has planned to merge the Cantonment Board with local municipality of the state government and form a muncipal corporation on lines of Ranchi Municipal Corporation that has a huge budget. Five out of 62 cantonment boards of the country have been proposed to be merged with local municipalities of respective state governments.
Public representative in the board nominated by defence estate, central command headquarters of the ministry of defense in Lucknow, Kirti Gaurav, said the merger of Ramgarh Cantonment Board with Ramgarh Municipal Council is the only permanent solution. “The ministry of defence has already proposed the merger but after announcement of polls for Ramgarh Cantonment Board, it seems that the merger might be delayed for the next five years and board will continue to face a funds crunch,” she said.
“Two basic issues of central civic body in Ramgarh garrison town still need to be resolved. While a large number of multistoried buildings have been constructed violating building bylaws of the board, the prohibited area restriction has also been violated and a full fledged colony has come up,” Anmol Singh, former vice-chairman of the board said.