Corporates should utilise ex-servicemen in workforce: Jaitley

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday urged the corporate sector to utilise the services of ex-servicemen for meeting their requirement for a highly trained and disciplined work force.

"Corporate India requires trained and disciplined manpower and the ex-servicemen provide a big pool of such people."

"Their commitment to work is paramount, their discipline is very high and they have worked in difficult conditions," he said. The Defence Minister was addressing the Directorate General of Resettlement Conclave where industry body CII and the Army would work together to provide jobs to ex-servicemen.

He said the majority of ex-servicemen retire early from the forces but they are "never tired and are always willing to go on in life". Jaitley said the good management practices of the armed forces personnel can be seen from the fact that cantonments across the country are better maintained than other areas and defence buildings are in a better shape than other civilian buildings.

He said during his visit to an internal border post in Amritsar yesterday, the Army was maintaining a small village where its people were teaching in the local state government school. Jaitley said the industry can also hire the defence personnel to carry out their Corporate Social Responsibility.

Every year, 60,000 armed forces personnel retire and 44 per cent of them are in the age group of 40-50, 33 per cent in 35-40 year age bracket while 12 per cent people leave the service at the age group of 30-35 years.