"This is going on for a long time. Retired officers of the army or bureaucrats work for Indian companies, foreign companies," Defence Minister A K Antony said in reply to questions in the Rajya Sabha.
He noted that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence has recommended that the cooling off period should be five years from the present one year.
"We will examine that recommendation seriously," he said.
He was replying when Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP) said a "very disturbing development" had been witnessed as retired army officers of the rank of Lt Generals are becoming lobbyists for companies having questionable track records.
The Standing Committee, in its report tabled in Parliament on Monday, had pointed out that "some of the retired defence officers work with the private sector and act as a middlemen for defence procurement."
The committee noted that the prescribed period as per service conditions forbidding Armed Forces officers joining private sector was earlier two years which has now been reduced to one year.
"The committee is of strong view that the aforesaid period need to be increased to five years for the officers of the rank of Brigadier and above, and their equivalents which would certainly help in addressing the issue of blacklisting of technologies. Urgent initiatives in this regard should be taken by the Defence Ministry," the report said. MORE PTI NKD AKK
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