An experimental hiring of about 1,700 retired Army personnel in the Central Industrial Security Force for rendering unarmed duties has not found favour with the paramilitary force and it has sought discontinuation of these contracts from the Union home ministry, official sources said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had last year asked the CISF to toy with the idea of hiring 2,000 ex-army personnel for "non core" duties at 13 of its security units in the country, including those engaged in thermal power and coal production.
The contractual hiring was made for a period of one year initially which may be renewed on an year-to-year basis for 2 additional years.
The trial was meant to "help and rehabilitate" retired army personnel and take benefit of their experience for security purposes.
The force -- primarily tasked to provide a counter-terrorist cover to civil airports, nuclear and aerospace facilities and other vital installations in the private and government domain -- issued an advertisement in March 2021 seeking engagement of 2,000 retired Army personnel in the Army equivalent ranks of sub inspector, assistant sub inspector, head constable and constable below the age of 50 years.
The remuneration ranged between Rs 40,000 (SI) to Rs 25,000 (constable) per month.
Official sources said about 1,700 such superannuated army personnel finally joined the force and were subsequently posted at the designated units.
"The experiment has not been found successful. The force has recently written to the MHA seeking to discontinue the engagement," a senior officer said.
Another officer said a few reasons have been cited by the force while seeking discontinuance of this less than an year engagement.
The hired personnel are not covered under the CISF Act of 1968 or Rules and being governed by only the terms and conditions of the contract, he said. -- PTI