Secunderabad Cantonment merger back in focus

Secunderabad Cantonment’s long-pending demand for merger with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has once again come into focus, with the Ministry of Defence informing the Rajya Sabha that the issue of excising civil areas from select Cantonments is currently under judicial scrutiny, including before the High Court of Telangana.

Responding to a question raised by MP Mahender Bhatt in the Rajya Sabha on Monday (February 9, 2026), Minister of State for Defence, Sanjay Seth, said that the Centre has decided in principle to excise civil areas from select Cantonments and merge them with adjoining State municipalities. He added that since the outcome of the excision exercise may have a bearing on the governance structure of Cantonment boards, elections to these boards were not conducted.

“The matter is presently sub judice before the High Courts of Delhi, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh,” he said.

In Telangana, the issue is linked to the future of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB). The merger of the Cantonment’s civil areas with the GHMC was a long-standing demand of legislators from the constituency as well as residents, many of whom argue that development in the area remained stalled due to administrative limitations under the cantonment system.

The demand has also led to political mobilisation in recent weeks. Secunderabad Cantonment MLA, Sri Ganesh Narayanan, recently staged a hunger strike, reiterating the call for the merger and urged the Centre to expedite the process.

Addressing concerns over the suspension of Central Finance Commission grants due to the delay in holding the elections, the Minister clarified to the Rajya Sabha that the grants were released to 29 cantonment boards, in the current financial year, under the Central Finance Commission grants.

He added that only Cantonment boards in Uttarakhand cited non-conduct of elections as one of the reasons for non-receipt of grants. The matter, he said, was taken up with the Uttarakhand Government for the release of funds.