Shimla, November 30 : Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, has urged the Centre to establish a brigade sized Military Garrison by developing a Model Military Cantonment at Una on the analogy of Cantonment at Mamun or Ambala Cantt, with a view to equip soldiers with required skills to guard national boundaries. In a letter written to the Union Defence Minister Shri A.K.Antony, he wrote that Himachal Pradesh happened to be the nursery of outstanding brave soldiers and had produced solders who had shown exemplary courage in performing their duties. He said that the State had willing youth to serve in the Armed Forces and their parents feel proud in sending their children to serve in armed forces. He said that such valiant soldiers from Himachal had always been giving their best to defend the motherland. He said that Una would be an ideal location to establish the Model Military Cantonment since the area had good road and rail link with proximity to Western frontiers offering excellent maneuverability in terms of deployment of men and machines. He said that proximity to China border would be an added locational advantage and the place was located in salubrious environment of Shivalik foothills.
Chief Minister reminded the Union Defence Minister of his discussions with him during National Integration Council Meeting held in New Delhi recently of the proposal to move Dogra Regimental Centre from Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh to Una in Himachal Pradesh which was already in the knowledge of the Union Government. He said that Dogra Regimental Centre had been training recruits majority of whom hailed from hilly states of the country besides serving the ex-servicemen and widows from Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab hilly areas. He said that with the relocation of the Regimental Centre would improve functional efficiency of the Army and also enable War Widows/Ex-Servicemen/Wards of defence personnel to better leverage numerous welfare schemes being implemented by Union Ministry of Defence and would also save time and efforts in communicating with Regimental Centre. He said that Himachal Pradesh was ideally located of mix of plains, semi-hills and mountainous terrain, to cater to the training requirements of soldiers by developing their skills to fight on the borders with the hostile neighbouring countries. He suggested that the existing infrastructure at Faizabad could be utilized by other regiments which were sharing common location and were looking for establishment of similar centres. He said that the relocation of the Regimental Centre would be beneficial to the Defence Ministry and the trainees as well since Una was in the middle of the borders on Himalayan ranges and national capital.
Prof. Dhumal assured the Union Minister of making required land and other infrastructural facilities available for relocation of the Dogra Regimental Centre and Military Garrison on priority. He urged Shri Anthony to accord top priority to the proposals of the State Government which in fact were in the national interest.
