Ordnance Factory Board is now history; employees protest

As Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) becomes history, with the Central government bringing all 41 ordnance factories under seven new defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs) on October 1, defence civilian employees of these factories have overwhelmingly voted against the decision in a referendum carried out by them on their own.

In a joint letter to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the representatives of the Federations of the Defence Civilian Employees of Ordnance Factories said 99.41% of the employees who participated in the referendum (61,199 out of 61,564 participated) have voted against the corporatisation of the factories. Only 365 voted in support, the letter said. The federations decided to observe October 1 as a black day to protest against the decision.

Incidentally, the government—in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha— had said that since the announcement to abolish the OFB in May 2020, the government has held various discussions with the federations regarding corporatisation of the factories under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Defence Production). The government claimed that the concerns and suggestions of employees were noted and their main concern addressed. However, the representatives of the federations said they had, in the meeting with the Secretary (DP) on August 27, 2021, "stoutly refused to buy the decision of the Government of India to corporatise the all-weather, dependable and time-tested lifeline of Indian Armed Forces, that is, the Indian Ordnance Factories". They also said they had asked the government to order a referendum but had to do it on their own as there was no action from the office of the Secretary (DP) on their request.

Meanwhile, the government has said that its decision to convert OFB units into seven DPSUs is aimed at enhancing functional autonomy, efficiency and unleashing growth and innovation. The seven new DPSUs will cover ammunition and explosives, vehicles, weapons and equipment, troop comfort items, ancillary, opto-electronics and parachute.