Defence Ministry changes NOC policy

“We are examining our NOC policy, which will be changed. We will also computerise all land records,” Defence Minister A K Antony said here on Thursday. The minister, however, did not elaborate on the proposed changes. With 17.3 lakh acres of land in its possession, the defence ministry is India’s second biggest land owner after the Railways. The Army is the biggest owner with 13.18 lakh hectres.

In the last one and half years, the armed forces were plugged by a series of major scams like Sukhna scandal in Darjeeling and controversies on Adarsh housing society and on a plot in Malad-Kandiveli, both in Mumbai. These scams have been related to granting of NOCs to private builders, allowing them to construct structures on military land or plots adjacent to sensitive bases.

A number of senior serving and retired officers including three former services chiefs are facing allegations in these scams.