No delay in officers' recruitment cycle in Indian Army: Govt to Parl panel

There is no delay in the officers' recruitment cycle in the Indian Army and there is a well-established procedure with a fixed timeline and all applicants including Veer Naris are treated at par in the recruitment process, the government has informed a parliamentary panel.

Action taken by the government on the observations or recommendations contained in the thirty-first report (17th Lok Sabha) of the Standing Committee on Defence on the subject 'Assessment of Welfare Measures available to war widows/Families in Armed Forces' was presented to Lok Sabha and laid in Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

The Committee in its report has noted that compassionate appointments are being made by concerned Service Headquarters of the Army, Navy and Air Force to widows or families of defence personnel, whereby widows of defence personnel, who lose their lives while performing the duties are eligible for applying for short Service Commission (Non-Technical) and (Technical). They are eligible even if they have children but should not have been re-married, it said.

A total of five per cent of vacancies are earmarked for widows both for SSC (Technical) Women and SSC (Non-Technical) Women Entry, the panel says in the report.

"The Committee desires that the criteria of 'Veer Nari' being unmarried for employment eligibility should be relooked into. Further, it has come to the notice of the Committee that in some cases of compassionate appointment, candidates have to face inordinate delays in getting an appointment. Evidently, in certain cases, the widows cross their age limit whilst waiting for the announcement of vacancies, it said.

The Committee recommends that a suitable mechanism should be formulated so as to ensure that at least eligible and willing 'Veer Nari' of NoK (next of kin) be given either employment or a resettlement option in the shortest time period possible," the report further said.

The government in its response has said that "five per cent vacancies are provided to widows of defence personnel as welfare measures as per Government of India letter Number B/32313/PC/AG/PS-2(a)/921/D(AG) dated 20 July 2006. They are given preference for SSC (Technical) and (Non-Technical) Women Entry".

Relaxation up to the age of 35 years is provided to the 'Veer Naris'. Veer Naris who are remarried are not given relaxation as they are not under financial hardship and a support system exists for them, the government said.

"There is no delay in the officers' recruitment cycle in the Indian Army. There is a well-established procedure with a fixed timeline and all applicants including Veer Naris are treated at par in the recruitment process, the government added in its reply to the observations of the panel.

'Veer Naris'/widow applying for SSC (Non-Technical) Entry are exempted from Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) written examination. They are directly detailed for service for the Service Selection Board (SSB) on meeting the other eligibility criteria," the government said.