ANNOUNCEMENTS
Military stations comprise a unique part of military settlements in India in the post-Independence period. Mostly understood as ‘cantonments’ in the general public perception, military stations stand distinctly apart from cantonments in being entirely administered by defence authorities and an absence of independent municipal status. They rarely find mention in either literature or public discourse, mostly attributable to a lack of availability of and accessibility to key statistics which forms the backbone of any research endeavour. This study attempts to fill this gap in literature with a focus on liveability in military stations. The study aims to study the necessity and the challenges faced in transformation of military stations into smart liveable stations in India. The study identifies a need for the existing military stations to transform into smart liveable military stations. The study proposes a liveability index for military stations in peace locations in India. The paper identifies eleven parameters and thirty-one indicators for assessing liveability of military stations, which have been curated from literature on liveability indices in India and abroad. These have been finalised through stakeholder consultations utilising the Delphi method, evaluated at Bhatinda Military Station as a pilot and at Jaisalmer Military Station as a confirmatory study and tested through Analytical Hierarchy Process. The study recommends that the liveability index will serve as an important tool to identify gaps in quality of life of residents in military stations. It will also enable the concerned planning staff and the competent financial authorities to take more informed and reliable decisions in optimally allocating funds for holistic development of military stations. The challenges to transformation have been identified as policy, finance, training, awareness, implementation of ICT challenges and the study recommends to publish a policy document on framework for transformation of existing military Stations into Smart and more liveable Military Stations with emphasis on compliance.
