Addressing reporters here on Monday, M K Ravindran Pillai,  Joint Secretary, AIDEF ( Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) said that the Federation will oppose the Centre’s decision to grant licences to 13 private firms like Mahindra and Mahindra , Godrej, L& T and Satyam Computers to manufacture sensitive equipments.

Factories

There are 39 ordinance factories spread across the nation to manufacture and supply defence related equipments. “We want only these factories  to manufacture the defence equipments and not the private players,  Mr Pillai said.

The AIDEF, an umbrella organisation representing over 4.5 lakh defence civilian employees, also stressed the need to improve the working conditions in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to prevent scientists from moving over to the private sectors.

Golden jubilee

The Federation is organising its ‘Golden Jubilee Celebration’ and a seminar on ‘Privatisation of Defence Industries and Private Participation in Defence Research’ to create a public debate against private participation in the sector on November 22 in Bangalore.