Kendriya Sainik Board meeting on May 19, 2007
May 18, 2007 (FIDSNS)
The twenty-seventh meeting of the Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB) will begin on May 19, 2007.
The KSB functions under the chairmanship of the Defence Minister. The Chief Ministers/Lt Governors of States/ UTs and Service Chiefs are its members. The board meets annually to review policy, achievements and deliberate on pending issues concerning Ex-Servicemen (ESM) welfare.
There exists a vast reserve of skilled, disciplined and committed Human Resource available in the country in the form of ESM. The Government of India has declared the year 2007 as the year of the placement of ESM with a view to achieve the dual task of offering veterans a meaningful second career, while also harnessing this invaluable resource towards nation building.
Approximately 60,000 Armed Forces personnel retire from their active service every year. These are retired only metaphorically, they are otherwise young, enthusiastic, disciplined and skilled, and who can be utilized for the benefit of the Nation on the one hand and a dignified life through meaningful second career options will also motivate the future generation, towards the Armed Forces on the other.
The centre and state governments have accepted the joint responsibility for resettlement of Ex-servicemen and to provide them rehabilitation through provision of employment in the organized sector or through self employment. At the Centre, the Ex-Servicemen Welfare (ESW) department of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is responsible for formulation of the policy guidelines and schemes for resettlement of the ESM. Working under the same banner, the Directorate General of Resettlement (DGR) and Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB) function conjointly towards the welfare and resetltment of ESM. In the states and Union Territories, The Rajya Sainik Boards, and at the District level the Zila Sainik Boards attend to the problems of ESM and assist in executing various schemes. The KSB which looks after the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund, functions under the DGR for implementing all schemes. This fund is utilized for various welfare measures for ESM, widows and their dependents besides giving grants to Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre, located at Khadki and Mohali, St. Dunstan’s Blind Institute at Dehradun, Cheshire Homes and Red Cross Old Age home at Bangalore.
The DGR lays down the policies and schemes for resettlement of retiring and retired ESM fraternity, widows of martyrs and their dependents. The present ESM population in the country today is 24 Lakh in which widows population is over 4.2 Lakh. The bulk of Personnel below Officers Rank (PBOR) retire between the age group of 35-45 years and officers between 52-55 years depending on the rank held. Besides, a large number of short service commissioned officers are released from service after having served from 5 years to 14 years of contractual service. The early release / retirement of Armed Forces Personnel is resorted to in order to maintain youthful profile of the Armed Forces. Majority of the Armed Forces personnel have to leave the service at a time when their family liability is at its peak. There is, therefore, a dire need to provide them with a second career in the civil. They are real achievers and with a little orientation for life in corporate sector they can do wonders. With the opening up of economy the organizations are more and more technology driven. Thus the downsizing is the order of the day. The Govt Sector is also not untouched with this transformation.
The DGR lays emphasis on more and more self employment ventures to be undertaken by ESM by way of entrepreneurship both in cottage industry as well as in agricultural sector. The SEMFEX schemes and National Equity Funds offer soft loans to the ESM population to start their own ventures. More emphasis is now being given to ‘Herbal Farming for which DGR arranges for specialized training and availability of technical support and quality seed. DGR also assist in marketing of the produce at reasonable price. The DGR is equipping officers and PBOR for civil vocations through DGR sponsored training which is free for PBOR and Officers have to pay only 40% of the training expenditure. These trainings are held in Institutes of repute throughout the country and the duration of training is treated as temporary duty. The ESM training is arranged through Rajya Sainik Board. The officers from DGR have also been visiting various Regimental Centres spread throughout the country and briefing the PBOR on various employment / self-employment avenues opened for them. Leading corporate houses have taken a large number of personnel in their folds recently and short-listed many more in different trades. 5,000 constables have been recruited in the Special Auxiliary Police (SAP) in Bihar from amongst retiring and retired Army Personnel. The recruitment of ex-army men for policing is being undertaken on such a scale for the first time in the country. The DGR has also recently started a career transition programme for PBOR.
The recently introduced six months certificate course for officers at IIMs, MDI Gurgaon and XLRI, Jamshedpur have proved very useful and the participants are being sought after by the corporate sector. The course has been introduced for Armed Forces personnel at IIMs Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Indore, and Bangalore, at MDI, Gurgaon, Narsimonjee Institute of Management, Mumbai and XLRI Jamshedpur.
Based on the recommendations of the JJ Irani Committee appointed by Ministry of Company Affairs on amendments to Companies Act 1956, the SEBI has revised clause 49 to stipulate that from Jan 2006 at least one third of the Board of a company with non-executive Chairman should comprise ‘Independent Directors’ and at least 50% for those companies that have executive Chairmen. Accordingly an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 Directors would be required to comply with SEBI’s requirement. Keeping in view the above requirement of the environment three Independent Director’s Courses have been held for Senior Officers of the rank of Brigadier and above at SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai and MDI, Gurgaon. A similar course of one-week duration was organized under the aegis of ASSOCHAM at ASSOCHAM HOUSE, New Delhi in the first week of this month.
The officers from DGR have also been visiting various Regimental Centres spread throughout the country and briefing the PBOR on various employment / self-employment avenues opened for them. Leading corporate houses have taken a large number of personnel in their folds recently and short-listed many more in different trades. 5,000 constables have been recruited in the Special Auxiliary Police (SAP) in Bihar from amongst retiring and retired Army Personnel. The recruitment of ex-army men for policing is being undertaken on such a scale for the first time in the country.
The booming IT sector, Insurance sector, Service sector including hospitability industry in the country are also being tapped for providing much needed succour by way of second career to the Armed Forces Personnel. The officers and PBOR are being given specialized training through DGR sponsored training Institute in the country.
Coal Transport Companies, Mother Dairy Milk Booths and Safal Fruits/Vegetable stalls (in Delhi only) are managed entirely by the ESM as also the Toll Plazas on the National Highways and CNG stations in Delhi.
DGR is holding seminars in various metros and industrial townships in association with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), FICCI and ASSOCHAM to create awareness in the corporate sector about the vast reservoir of trained and multi discipline Human Resource available in the form of ex-service personnel who could be gainfully employed in civil sector for mutual benefit with an aim of closing down the existing gap between the Defence Services and the industry for mutual benefit.
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