Govt mulls restrictions on army officials joining private firms

New Delhi: Against the backdrop of cases of alleged involvement of former military officers in defence scams, the government is considering a proposal to impose restrictions on services personnel joining private arms companies post retirement.A proposal in this regard has been prepared and is expected to be sent to the armed forces in the near future for their views on the issue, sources said here.The biggest worry of the Government is about officers working in procurement and acquisition directorates of theministry and the services and joining arms companies as consultants soon after retirement, they said.[caption id="attachment_457195" align="alignleft" width="380"] PTI[/caption]Recently, Defence Minister AK Antony had stated that the Government was "seriously considering" a Standing Committee recommendation to bar services officers from joining private sector five years after their retirement.The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence had recommended that cooling off period should be five years from the present one year.The cooling off period was earlier two years but it was reduced to one year.After the allegations levelled by former Army Chief Gen VK Singh against Lt Gen Tejinder Singh for lobbying for Tatra trucks, the Standing Committee had said that some of the retired defence officers act as a middlemen for defence procurement.It recommended that cooling off period needs to be increased to five years for officers of the rank of Brigadierand above, and their equivalents.PTI