The Defence Industry is under serious threat. The Pension right of the Government employees is also under attack. The present Government with the sole intention of supporting the private corporate houses has decided to handover the strategic Defence Production and related activities like Research and Services etc. to these corporate houses mainly of Ambani's and Adani's etc. The present Government initially announced that 70% of the requirement of the Armed Forces are being imported and to replace the import, these products will be made in India in the name of "Make in India" by the private corporates and multinationals and for that purpose 100% FDI in Defence is permitted. Defence Technology is so complicated and it takes years together to develop modern Defence Technology and hence the few developed Countries for whom Defence Equipment selling is a major source of income is neither prepared to give technology nor to invest money in our country.
Therefore, to show the outside World that the Government has implemented "Make in India"in Defence has done an historical mistake by offloading more than 275 products being manufactured in the 41 Ordnance Factories as "Non-Core". Due to this decision more than 25 Ordnance Factories are very badly effected. Former Defence Ministers Shri.George Fernandes, Shri Pranab Mukherjee and Shri.A.K.Antony have assured in the past that the work which can be done by the Ordnance Factories will not be privatised and for manufacturing any new products the first priority will be given to the Ordnance Factories. Even the Former Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar who was Defence Minister previously in the present Govt. has directed OFB to increase their production to Rs.20000 crore per year. Accordingly, during the year 2017-2018 the Ordnance Factories made a record production of Rs.17650 crore of Defence Equipments. However, in violation of this the present dispensation has reduced the workload of OFB for the current year to Rs.6500 crore and thereafter due to the agitations increased the same to Rs.11700 crore. The Government instead of increasing the target to Rs.19000 crore during 2018-2019 has reduced the target to Rs.11700 crore. The target for 2019-2020 is not known and what will happen to the future of 85000 Employees is a big question mark.
The Govt. has also taken a policy decision to close down Military Farms which were supplying pure milk to the Soldiers,Station Workshops under Army, Depots under the Army and to hand over the 8 Army Base Workshops which are giving second life to the Defence Equipments including the imported one to the Private Sector in the name of GOCO Model. The DRDO is being forced to hand over the newly developed technology to the private sector. Manpower in DRDO is considerably reduced. The DGQA which is playing a vital role in guaranteeing the Quality Equipments to the Indian Army is also being seriously attacked and Govt. wanted to hand over the Defence Quality Assurance activity to the Private Sector in the name of Third Party Inspection. The Military Engineering Service is also not spared. All the Construction and Maintenance Work are being completely outsourced. The strength of permanent employees are getting decreased and the number of Contract Workers are getting increased.Apprentices trained in Def. Establishments are denied employment opportunities.Even in strategic Naval Dockyards many jobs are outsourced.The contract labourers deployed in these Defence Units are exploited and our demand to regularise them is not being considered by the Govt.
Another major problem being faced by the Central Govt.Employees & Officers including Defence Civilian Employees & Officers is the draconian National Pension System (NPS).Previous NDA Govt.has introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme now called as NPS, for those employees who have joined service on or after 01.01.2004.The NPS has taken away the right of Pension of the Govt.employees which the Hon'ble Supreme Court has guaranteed. When the NPS was introduced the Govt. assured that Pension from NPS will not be less than the Pension payable under the Defined Pension Scheme as provided in CCS (Pension) Rules,1972. However, the employees who are now retiring from the NPS are getting only a meager Pension of Rs.1,000/- to Rs.2,000/-, whereas the minimum Pension under the Defined Pension Scheme of CCS (Pension) Rules,1972 is Rs.9,000/-+DA. The Govt. is not prepared to scrap the NPS and to restore the Guaranteed Pension under the CCS (Pension) Rules,1972.
The Defence Industries are established and developed after independence for achieving self reliance in Defence. The skilled Workforce of these Industry are continuously struggling and striving to achieve this task. However, the Govt. instead of encouraging and strengthening these Industries is deliberately making these Industries sick and subsequently to liquidate the same. It is for the employees and also for the patiotic citizens of this Country to raise their voice against the decision of the present Govt. to dismantle the Defence Industry and to hand over the same to the private corporates whose sole aim is to earn profit and more profit.
Are these policies not against the national interest? Can the Defence of our Country depends upon the Private Corporates? Can Indian Army be imposed with a "Corporate Culture"whereby giving a free hand to the Army to procure what ever they want and from whereever they can. These are all issues which the Country has to debate both inside the Parliament and in Public.We should rise together and fight back against these retrograde policies of the Government.
Save Defence Industry Save the Nation
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