Centre's step to dissolve Ordnance Board leaves contractual staff worried

Kolkata: The fate of 300 odd contractual employees of the 200-year-old Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), headquartered in Kolkata, hangs in balance with the Defense Ministry initiating the process of dissolving the board with effect from October 1.

The ministry will transfer its assets, employees and management to seven public sector units (PSUs), according to an official order dated September 28.

"The process of dissolving the OFB will take one or two years. We will wait and observe the policy that the government adopts and accordingly plan our next course of action. But the contractual employees uncertain and apprehensive about their future ," Supriya Das Sharma, general secretary of Contractual Staff Union of OFB said.

A union leader, who refused to be named, said in the present circumstances, the four ordnance factories in Bengal under OFB located at Cossipore, two at Ichapore and Dum Dum will continue to be functional and so it is unlikely that the contractual employee will face the axe.