Defence ministry sacks 13 Group ‘A’ ordnance factory officers

The defence ministry on Thursday said it has decided to prematurely retire 13 officers of the Indian Ordnance Factories Service after a rigorous screening of overall performance of the officers based on their entire service records found their performance not up to the mark.

''The government, after having assessed the overall performance of officers of Indian Ordnance Factories Service, following the prescribed procedure, has decided to retire its 13 Group 'A' officers from government service in public interest due to their overall unsatisfactory performance,'' says a defence ministry press statement.

The ministry did not elaborate on the issue, the recent revelations that the Indian Army may not find enough arms and ammunition to fight any war beyond 10 days could be a clue to the state of affairs at the ordnance factories.

The ministry said the assessment has been made in pursuance of instructions contained in the Fundamental Rule 56(j) and Rule 48(1)(b) of Central Civil Service(Pension) Rules, 1972 and prematurely retire the officers, the defence ministry stated.

The government said the move is part of various steps to improve the performance of ordnance factories by making its officers accountable to ensure delivery of quality products to armed forces of the nation in prescribed timelines.

The ordnance factories under the administrative control of the defence ministry's Department of Defence Production are managed by the officers of Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS), which is an organised Group 'A' central service.

The service is responsible for ensuring that the ordnance factories are always geared to cater to the varied logistical needs of the armed forces. Indian Ordnance Factories Service provides requisite leadership to the 39 ordnance factories employing about 1 lakh employees.