Cantonment Boards

  • Cantonment Boards are established under the Cantonments Act of 2006
  • They are the bodies for municipal administration of the civilian population in the cantonment area.
  • Cantonment Boards are under the administrative control of the Defence Ministry.
  • A cantonment board consists of partly elected and partly nominated members. 
  • The elected members hold office for a term of five years while the nominated members (i.e., ex-officio members) continue so long as they hold the office in that station. 
  • The military officer commanding the station is the ex-officio president of the board and presides over its meetings. 
  • The Vice-President of the board is elected by the elected members from amongst themselves for a term of five years.
  • Cantonments are divided into four categories, namely,
    1. Category I – population exceeds fifty thousand
    2. Category II – population exceeds ten thousand, but does not exceed fifty thousand
    3. Category III – population exceeds two thousand five hundred, but does not exceed ten thousand
    4. Category IV – population does not exceed two thousand five hundred.

  •  As the resources are owned by GOI, cantonment boards can't levy any tax.