GREF wives’ body calls on Antony

After over a hundred protest letters were sent by several officials, including the top management, of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) against the appointment of an Army officer as the Director General, a delegation of the General Reserve Engineers Force (GREF) wives welfare association met Defence Minister A K Antony to draw his attention to the issue.

The delegation, led by the association's president Neelam Sonkar, met Antony and raised the issue that GREF personnel, who make up for the bulk of the officials at the BRO, are being ill treated and being discriminated against when it comes to appointments to senior posts.

Contending that the posting of Army officers to the top slots at the organisation has stunted the career prospects of GREF personnel who have decades of service life, the association hit out against the established practice of appointing an Army Lt Gen to head the BRO.

"Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has been boiling over the 'undue' dominance of Army in the organisation. Out of total authorised strength of 42,646, only 3,000 personnel are drawn from Army in the BRO. Interestingly, the BRO is a deemed department under Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and is under administrative control of Ministry of Defence," a press release by the association said.

Sources said Antony gave a patient hearing to the delegation and assured them he would look into all matters that have been raised. The minister also asked the association to meet the Minister of State for Defence Jitendra Singh who is in charge of the BRO.

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