Ministry of Defence & Kotak Mahindra tie-up for jobs to veterans

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Directorate General for Resettlement (DGR), an arm of the Ministry of Defence, and Kotak Mahindra Life Assurance Company Limited on Monday to create job opportunities for ex-servicemen.

Following the MoU, Major General Sharad Kapoor, Director General (Resettlement) said: “This partnership will bring more visibility to our ex-soldiers in industry and businesses and help achieve the goals of providing skilled manpower and giving a dignified second career to our ex-soldiers.”

The Kendriya Sainik Boards (KSB) and the General Directorate of Resettlement (DGR) are executing agencies for ex-military care and rehabilitation schemes such as girl marriage grant, disability grant and handicapped children grant, and the government allocates funds for them annually. The actual expenditures incurred by the KSBs for the previous two years 2021-22 and 2020-21 were ₹234 crores and 420 crores, respectively, while the budget for 2022-23 was ₹150 crores, the Defense Ministry told parliament last year. The corresponding financial year figures for DGR are ₹6.58 crores and ₹6.7 crores respectively and ₹20 crores is the budget allocation for the last financial year.

Many Jaws retire between 35 to 40 years old to retain freshness in the defense forces. To achieve this, the government is trying to help them with post-retirement jobs and self-employment schemes. Although the government retained 10 percent of Group C jobs and 20 percent of Group D jobs for former employees in the public sector, the vacancies were hardly completely filled. According to last year’s report, in defense primary support units alone, the number of veteran rehires is very low. Through 2021, state defense companies employed only 3.45 percent and 2.71 percent of veterans in Group C and Group D positions.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh also earlier appealed to companies to help veterans who contribute greatly to the country’s security.