Members of All India Defence Employees Federation held a demonstration on Thursday demanding the ministry of defence to set up a defence quality assurance board.
The members asked the ministry to immediately setup the board that was one of the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report in 2005.
The CAG in the performance audit of the directorate general of quality assurance (DGQA) had said that it had failed to evolve itself from an inspection agency into a quality assurance agency.
The DGQA is responsible for providing quality assurance of the entire range of weapons, ammunition and equipment acquired and held by the army.
“There is a need for an independent board to improve quality management system,” said PK Ravindran Pillai, joint secretary, All India Defence Employees Federation.
The federation also said that issues related to promotions and vacancies in the DGQA have not been taken up and the ministry should immediately take measures to address them.
It also demanded that the private security agencies deployed at defence laboratories and PSUs should not be given permission to guard this kind of establishments.
“There have been numerous instances where such security personnel have turned out to be thieves or anti-national elements,” Pillai said.
The federation also criticised the privatisation of defence PSUs.
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