DIRECTORATE GENERAL DEFENCE ESTATES
Location
It is located in “Raksha Sampada Bhawan” close to the Palam Airport on Ulaanbaatar Road, Delhi Cantt.
Principal Directorates
There are 6 Principal Directorates headed by Principal Directors, Defence Estates located at:
- Lucknow (Central Command)
- Pune (Southern Command)
- Chandigarh (Western Command)
- Kolkata (Eastern Command)
- Jammu (Northern Command)
- Jaipur (South Western Command)
Field Offices
There are 62 Cantonments in India. Each Cantonment has a system of local self-governance and has a Cantonment Board. Each Cantonment Board has its own budget and comprises elected, nominated and ex officio members. The Board is responsible for all civic, social, developmental and regulatory functions. The Cantonment Board has a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who functions as Member-Secretary to the Cantonment Board. She/he is an officer of Indian Defence Estates Service.
There are 39 Defence Estates Circles. Defence Estates Officers (DEO) head each of these Circles. DEOs are custodians of all defence land records. They carry out hiring, requisitioning and acquisition of land and buildings for defence purposes. DEOs also advise the users of defence lands such as Army, Navy, Air force, DRDO, and other Defence Establishments in land matters. DEOs also take care of all land title or acquisition/resumption related litigations. Leasing and licensing functions are carried out through these field offices.
National Institute of Defence Estates Management (NIDEM), Delhi Cantonment is the premier training institute for officers of Indian Defence Estates Services. It is headed by Director. The Institute imparts short and long term training in land and cantonment administration, computerisation, surveying and geographical information systems (GIS).
NIDEM has been designated as a nodal agency for National Land Records Mordenisation Programme (NLRMP) under the Ministry of Rural Development from 2011 onwards. NLRMP provides for skill-based tecnical training in various subjects such as modern survey techniques and computerised land records management.
NIDEM has under it two Regional Training Centres (RTCs) located at Dehradun and Dehu Road. RTCs provide training to the staff and Officers of the Cantonment Boards.
