Rajnath Singh to kick off Defence Estates Day celebrations tomorrow

New Delhi, Dec 15 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to share his views on digital and tech-enabled land management when he presides over the Defence Estates Day Celebrations at Delhi Cantonment on December 16, an official said.

He will confer the Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence in public service in the field of Defence Land Management and Municipal Administration of 61 Cantonment Boards spread across the country, said a statement on Monday.

This year’s celebrations, to be held at Raksha Sampada Bhawan, hold special significance as the Department steps into its 100th year, commemorating a legacy that traces its origins to 1765, when the first Cantonment was established in Barrackpore, West Bengal.

Over the subsequent century and a half, cantonments such as Danapur (1766), Meerut (1803), Ambala (1843), and Delhi (1915) followed, laying the foundation of Defence and Land Administration in India. The Department was later formalised on December 16, 1926, as the Department of Land and Cantonments under the Ministry of Defence.

The Defence Estates Department today manages the largest landholding of the Government of India under the Ministry of Defence. While steeped in history, the Department has undertaken an exceptional modernisation journey, transforming itself into a pioneer in digital and tech-enabled land management.

The Department has successfully implemented the E-Chhawani project by providing 100 per cent municipal services online to 20 lakh Cantonment residents.

The Department’s efforts towards water conservation and rejuvenation of water bodies have been acknowledged at the highest level, as it received the National Water Awards for Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari.

The Department has undertaken complete digitisation of legacy land records, ensuring their preservation for the future.

The Entire File Management system has been modernised with Nationwide adoption of a secure, technology-backed file management system, enabling seamless retrieval and safe archival.

A centralised software platform ‘Raksha Bhoomi’, hosted on secure servers, now serves as the unified repository of all defence land records.

The Department has developed core competency in Land Survey with extensive adoption of Continuously Operating Reference Stations-enabled Differential Global Positioning System, Geographic Information System-based tools, and high-resolution satellite imagery to strengthen accuracy.

A Centre of Excellence on Satellite and Unmanned Remote Vehicle Initiative, leveraging Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning and emerging technologies to build next-generation solutions for defence land management.

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