Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 12: In line with the Government policies and vision, the much-needed revision of Scales of Accommodation-2022 (SoA) for Defence Services has been approved by the defence minister, Rajnath Singh today, which will ensure contemporary specifications in future projects and better standards of living.
The Engineering in Chief of Indian army, Lt General Harpal Singh told Excelsior that SoA provides authorization for the construction of facilities for operational, functional, training, administrative, living and recreation for the Defence Services.
“With the induction of new units, technological facilities and equipment profile, requirements of operational readiness, increased threat perception, the concept of sustainable development including contemporary industry standards and enhanced aspirations of users for improved living standards, there was an inescapable necessity for revision of the SoA 2009,” he said.
Lt Gen Singh said that with the implementation of SoA-2022, there would be a tremendous improvement in facilities built and specifications commensurate to contemporary requirements.
“Optimisation of Defence land usage by using multi-storeyed construction and austerity measures by combining of common facilities has been emphasized. These would ensure better working and living conditions for the Defence personnel including Defence civilians,” he said.
It is to be noted here that the Military Engineer Services (MES) is a premier construction agency and one of the pillars of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army which provides rear line engineering support to the Armed Forces and associated organisations of the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Also, it is one of the largest construction and maintenance agencies in India with a total annual workload to the tune of approximately ? 30000 crores, while it carries out multifarious construction activities for the Military stations/ cantonments such as residential and office buildings, hospitals, roads, runways and marine structures across the country including border areas.
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