Defence ministry to computerise land records

Hyderabad: Against the backdrop of the Adarsh housing scam, the Defence Ministry has started computerising records pertaining to the land possessed by it.

"We have about 17 lakh acres of land, out of which, two lakh acres are in Cantonment areas, across 62 Cantonments spread all over the country, which is very valuable. We have begun the process of computerising all the land (records) that we have," Union Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju told reporters here on the sidelines of a function.

The process of computerisation of the land details has begun and is likely to be completed soon, he said.

In safeguarding the defence land, the ministry is taking all possible measures. We are also strengthening the Director General of Defence Estates, the minister said, adding the armed forces have also been asked to take a greater responsibility on the matter.

The Minister also urged public representatives to help protect defence lands which are mistaken as vacant lands.

Replying to a query on Adarsh housing scam, he said the ministry would wait for the outcome of CBI probe.

Asked if there is any possibility of demolishing the Adarsh society building, he said, "I cannot say that. The Environment Minister has made his observations. The CBI has been entrusted the job of investigating into the facts of the matter. We will take a decision based on that."

Raju was speaking at a function at the Air Force Academy here, where he laid the foundation stone for the construction of 1128 dwelling units as part of the Married Accommodation Project (MAP).

MAP was conceived to construct two lakh houses and it has come a long way with 51,000 houses completed and another 7,000 units will be delivered by the year-end. These units have been appreciated by the troops. Additional 70,000 units have been sanctioned and are under execution, Raju said.

"Government is fully committed to meet the shortage of accommodation for the married personnel. We have taken Cabinet approval for 71,000 more units and station wise deficiency is being identified," he added.