The house will thus see that the bill comes to it not only with the stamp of public approval but also with the seal and sanction of a representative assembly. Admittedly, the bill does not solve cantonment problems. It carries out only certain amendments of a minor character with a view to improving the mechanism of the act the opposition to the bill has come not in regard to the actual provisions but in regard to its scope, and it has been said that the bill does not go far enough to meet the problem of democratisation. The main objection to the bill is that it does not provide for democratisation and that it does not vest full municipal government in the cantonment boards. On the question of democratisation, the local self-government ministers' conference in 1998 clearly recognised that, for reasons connected with security and the health of the troops, the areas where troops were quartered should be under the general control of the army authorities. The Patil committee too was of the view that cantonments were military stations primarlily and not civil towns and that the cantonments should in fact maintain, as far as possible, in the foreseeable future, their original chaacteristic of military stations. I have explained the policy of the government regarding democratisation in the council of state in detail and I should not like to weary this house by repeating the same. But I should like to mention just a few things briefly. I shall briefly explain the genesis of this bill. It was in 1998 that the local self government ministers conference passed a resolution recommending that the central government should, in consultation with the state governments concerned appointed a committee to examine the questions. It is absolutely true that the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissan and West Bengal were badly affected by feudalism. Background and projection of ideas and ideals should be chosen with extreme care and for all this, expert educationists, persons with insight into the child mind and experts in child psychology are necessary. Artistes also should be of the right kind, for directing the form and content of films for children.
