Firm officials flouted MoD hiring norms

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken under its scanner unknown officials of the Nagpur-based Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) for allegedly allowing five private security agencies contracted by them for guarding its premises flout mandatory defence ministry guidelines requiring the hiring of 90 per cent former servicemen for teams tasked with the work. Instead, the officials fraudulently diluted the rules by inserting a paragraph which sought to allow the firms hire up to 95 per cent civilians guards, who were then paid salaries that were allegedly 50 per cent of the salaries for ex-servicemen that were drawn from the WCL, according to the CBI.

The firms were accused of paying their civilian guards around Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 per month during 2014-16, even though they had drawn funds from WCL for paying ex-servicemen at the rate of around Rs 11,000 to Rs 12,000 per head, according to a CBI source. The firms, in collusion with the unidentified WCL officials, unduly gained Rs 4.59 crore, causing a corresponding loss to the WCL, according to the source. The CBI recently registered a case to probe the allegations against the private firms and unknown WCL officials under sections related to criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal misconduct, said the source.  

Among the firms under the scanner, two of them allegedly hired only one ex-serviceman each in their 85-man strong security teams, while another firm recruited two ex-servicemen for its 75-man team, said the source. Another firm hired 10 ex-servicemen for its team comprising 139 guards, while the fifth firm had five ex-servicemen in its team of 75. The firms were contracted for protection duties at WCL’s premises in Ballarpur, Chandrapur and Wani.

The Union defence ministry’s Directorate General of Rehabilitation (DGR) had issued guidelines in 2012 and 2013, making it mandatory for private security firms contracted for protection of WCL premises by including a minimum of 90 per cent of ex-servicemen. “The said DGR guidelines were non-negotiable. But the unidentified WCL officials fraudulently diluted the guidelines issued by DGR, by deliberately inserting a paragraph,” said the source.