India to procure 126 multi-roled aircraft

Kolkata, Oct 03 (UNI) India would shortly float tenders to procure 126 multi-roled aircraft to equip the armed forces with the upgraded technology, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said today.

The government was constantly monitering the requirement to replace or substitute aircrafts and the armed forces would be upgraded with the latest technologies as and when the need arises, Mr Mukherjee told reporters on the sidelines of a CII-sponsored meet on "Defence-Industry Partnership in Human Resource Management".

The government had earmarked Rs 89,000 crore for Defence procurement this year, he said.

With the implementation of the Ajai Vikram Singh Committee report the stagnation in promotion of Army personnel could be solved but still now there is a shortfall of army officers, he said adding that the shortfall could be pegged at around 10-12000.

He said looking at the skills of the army air force pilots were in high demand by the private airliners but the government has barred the officers from opting for the private airliners before 20 years of service.

Hoping that the new Pay Commission would look into the payment structure of the armed force personnel, the Defence Minister said he had talked to the Home Ministry on possibilities of lateral movement of army personnel to CRPF and ITBP taking into account their security management capabilities.

" We will have to take into account the promotion and other aspects in the CRPF and ITBP before taking any decision on the subject, " he said.

Complimenting some states for their activeness in resettlement of Army personnel after retirement, he said the state governments had been asked to open state-level Sainik Boards to look into the resettlement issue.

Nearly 60,000 army personnel retire every year at a young age in accordance with the norms to keep the force in good physical and mental condition, leaving many well trained and motivated personnel of varying age group left with huge productive working profile.

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