New Delhi: Most people residing in the defence cantonment areas are poor and the cantonment boards should ensure that such people do not feel scared in any way due to the behaviour of the board officers, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday.
Public services such as health, sanitation, primary education in a defence cantonment area are provided by the cantonment board concerned, which is a civic administration body under the Ministry of Defence.
"I was telling Army chief General Bipin Rawat that most people living in the cantonments are extremely poor. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to appeal that you must ensure that because of your behaviour, they should not feel scared," Singh said in his speech after giving away the 'Awards for Excellence 2019' to the cantonment boards.
He added that such people should have the trust that if they go to an officer in a cantonment area, they would be given protection.
"It is my experience...that a poor man's cry is the worst. God has given you this responsibility. It is not just to rule over them (poor people), it is to serve them. This precaution must be taken," Singh said.
The cantonment boards work under the Directorate General of Defence Estates (DGDE). Currently, Deepa Bajwa is the Director-General of Defence Estates, the topmost official of the DGDE.
"Not only the DGDE, but it is also the responsibility of the officials below it that they should go to the cantonments and listen to people's problems. At a local level, people's problems are heard, but those should be heard at this (senior officials') level too. This is my expectation," Singh said.
"Your department (DGDE) is doing the important work of managing defence land with an area of more than 17 lakh acres, catering to the land requirements of the three wings of the armed forces and providing civil and municipal services to over 20 lakh residents of 62 cantonment areas of the country," he added.
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