In the wake of the Adarsh and Sukna land scams that have rocked the Army in the past two years, the ministry of defence (MoD) had decided that “No Objection Certificates (NOCs)” would not be issued by local military authorities (LMAs) directly to private builders for construction of buildings on lands adjacent to defence installations unless a law so requires.
On Wednesday, defence minister A.K. Antony told MPs at a meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee on defence that “where a law does not so require, no NOC would be issued, especially to private builders directly by the LMAs” and that “the MoD will shortly be framing policies covering the issue of No Objection Certificates (NOCs) in cases where the local laws require consultation with Local Military Authorities(LMA) for construction of buildings on lands adjacent to defence installations”.
MoD sources said the Adarsh and Sukna land scams have projected the defence establishment and armed forces in bad light and that therefore, new measures would be implemented to prevent vested interests from “exploiting gaps in the system”.
There have also been suggestions from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence that a defence land audit should be conducted and that an independent land regulator for defence lands be appointed. The MoD is considering these suggestions. The MoD is one of the largest land holders in the country with over 17 lakh acres of land.