By IANS,
New Delhi : The defence ministry Sunday handed over the probe into a job racket for ex-servicemen to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in the corporate affairs ministry.
Several senior officers of the directorate general resettlement (DGR) have been found guilty in an internal inquiry.
The case involves a private company, Ex-Servicemen Airlink Transport Service Pvt Ltd (EATS), and the fraud took place under a scheme for ex-servicemen.
Under the scheme, security agencies run by retired defence personnel were given contracts to provide service to central public sector undertakings.
The defence ministry found substance in allegations of subletting of security agencies for obtaining multiple benefits by a few officers of the ex-servicemen welfare department.
“The defence ministry has decided to request the ministry of corporate affairs to hand over to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) the case relating to private company EATS for further investigation,” a defence ministry spokesperson said.
“Action is also being initiated against the officers mentioned in the inquiry report who flouted the extant norms and guidelines of various schemes, and thus were involved in administrative improprieties,” the spokesman said in a statement.
The move comes as the defence ministry initiated a series of measures after an inquiry found substance in allegations regarding subletting of security agencies and obtaining multiple benefits by a few ex-servicemen officers.
This was part of a drive to ensure transparency in the functioning of directorate general resettlement (DGR) office.
DGR is an attached office of department of ex-servicemen welfare, which is responsible for training and rehabilitation of retiring defence personnel and ex-servicemen through various self employment schemes.
One of these schemes relate to providing security services to central public sector undertakings through security agencies run by ex-servicemen.
“The essence of inquiry and its analysis is that in the last couple of years, efforts have been made to introduce as much transparency in the manner of the functioning of the DGR office.
“These efforts have been stepped up both by the department and the director general since the notification of DGR as an attached office of the department of ex-servicemen welfare in January 2009,” he said.