Chapter 10 - Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS) | A Bouquet of Services by IPS Lohit Matani and IPS Vishal - UPSC PDF Download

Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS)

Contributor: Mr. Lokender Singh, IPS 2014 Batch

10.1 Cadre Structure and Overview

The organization possesses the unique distinction of over 200 years of experience in defense production. It is engaged in production, testing, logistics, research, development and marketing of a comprehensive product range in the area of land, sea and air systems. The ordnance factories form an integrated base for indigenous production of defense hardware and equipment, with the primary objective of self reliance in equipping the armed forces with state of the art battlefield equipments. The organization is very well known as the ‘force behind the armed forces’.

The origin of this organization dates back to the British rule when the East India Company for their economic and political interests considered military hardware as a vital element. Official beginning of Army Ordnance in India was marked by the establishment of Board of Ordnance in Fort William, Kolkata in 1775. The Ordnance Factories Board came into existence in 1979. This Board is headed by Director General Ordnance Factories (DGOF) as chairperson and has 9 members in the rank of Additional DGOF. Ordnance Factories are divided into 5 operating divisions, each headed by a member, depending upon the type of the main products/technologies employed. These are:

1. Ammunition and Explosives (A&E)
2. Weapons, Vehicles &Equipments (WV&E)
3. Materials and Components (M&C)
4. Armored Vehicle (AV)
5. Ordnance Equipment Group of Factories (OEF)

IOFS is a multi-disciplinary composite cadre consisting of technical engineers (Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Electronics), technologists (Chemical, Metallurgical, Textile, Leather) and non-technical/administrative employees (Science, Law, Commerce, Management and Arts graduates). Technical posts comprise about 87% of the total cadre. IOFS officers lead and coordinate this diverse set of work force and are responsible for the growth of the organization.

10. 2 Roles and Responsibilities

I. Arms Manufacture:

IOFS officers lead the organization in manufacture of Arms, Ammunitions, Equipment, Armored Vehicles and Personal Carriers, Transport Vehicles, Clothing and General Store items. They also ensure supply to non-defense sectors and exports, after meeting the primary requirement of the Armed Forces. While doing this they have to interact extensively with the Public Sector Undertakings of the Ministry of Defense such as HAL, BEL, BEML, BDL, MDL, GSL, GRSE, Midhani, and other Govt. PSUs; their interaction also extends to various Indian and foreign private as well as government companies.

II.  Sourcing of Semi-Finished Goods:

Officers in this field are responsible for drawing up of supplies from the civil sector (private industries) for raw materials, components and semi-finished goods. These raw materials and semi-finished goods are used as an input to produce finished goods.

III. Quality Assurance:

Special Board at Ordnance Factory Board is responsible for maintaining quality of the products and represents the interests of the end users like armed forces. It has representation of Master General of Ordnance and Director General of Quality Assurance (DGQA). IOFS officers working in this board, generally at the rank of Joint Secretary (Ordnance Factories), are responsible for coordinating with quality controlling agencies such as Bureau of Indian Standards, DGQA and Directorate of Standardization, end users like Indian Armed Forces, Central Armed Police Forces, Special Forces of India and State’s Police, DRDO, and officers from the Ministry of Defense. They are responsible for planning resources, upgrading technology for better products and processes, and planning for various other related issues necessary for the efficient functioning of OFB.

IV. Head Quarter Functions:

IOFS officers are responsible for leading and coordinating the following functions at the Ordnance Headquarter:

1. They receive orders from various indentors.
2. They fix annual targets by mutual agreement in meetings.
3. They help in conversion of orders to extracts for the ordnance factories and the production units.
4. They plan and distribute the annual targets to various ordnance factories.
5. They help in preparing the annual budget for all the factories and present demands of budget under various heads from the Government. Then they plan and distribute this budget to all the ordnance factories.
6. They monitor production in various factories, expenditure of allotted budgets by the factories and also supervise allied tasks like administration, material management, engineering functions, quality maintenance, Human Resource Development, R&D, security, safety, welfare, and so on, in the production units.
7. They document and report achievements of all the factories to the Ministry, end users, indentors, Quality Assurance establishments, and so on.
8. They reply to the various queries raised in the Parliament, Standing Committees, Audit, etc relating to defense and other production.

V.  Product Supply and Customer Interaction

IOFS officers are responsible for supplying the indented products in right quantity and quality and at right time. They also interact with the customers for getting feedback about supplied products as well as their new requirements.

VI. Expansion and Maintenance of Capital Assets

Officers are also responsible for purchase of new plant and machineries and maintenance of existing ones.

VII.  Support Activities:

Officers perform support activities like recruitment, transfer, promotion, training and vigilance of subordinate employees, security and safety of the factories, welfare of employees, and so on. They also lead the task of maintenance of ordnance estates, accommodation, ordnance schools, canteens, hospital, club, bank, etc.

VIII. Indigenization and Upgradation of Technology:

In line with the “Make in India Campaign”, IOFS officers are responsible for leading the various cadres of the organization for producing indigenous defense products. As an example, OFB has indigenously developed the tactical game-changer 'Dhanush' 155 mm x 45 caliber Artillery Gun system. It has an effective range of 38 kms in the plains and has advanced day and night direct firing system. Efforts like this of IOFS leaders will help the nation become self-reliant in defense production. Officers in OFB work for assimilation of technology for the requirement of upgraded/ new products and also for developing new products by in-house R&D.

The new products developed by OFB includes Pinaka Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher [MBRL] System, 5.56 mm modified Assault Rifle and 40 mm pre-fragmented anti-aircraft ammunition. OFB has further developed Reduced Danger Zone (RDZ) bombs for the Indian Air Force. For Navy, OFB has indigenized RGB-12 and RGB-60 rockets.

10.3 Normal Growth Profile

We will be discussing about the various career opportunities an IOFS Officer has in a separate topic. However, this topic only deals with various ranks an IOFS Officer holds during his professional life. These ranks are held when he/ she is working in his/ her main line department.

10.4 Recruitment

The recruitment into IOFS happens through four channels:

1. People are inducted into IOFS after qualifying in the Civil Services Exam conducted by UPSC.
2. Some other are inducted after qualifying the Engineering Service Exam conducted by UPSC.
3. The technologists are selected by various interviews conducted by UPSC.
4. The Group B officers working in the OFB or in Ordnance Factories are also promoted to the IOFS.

10.5 Training

The training structure of the IOFS is divided in to the phases as mentioned below.

The majority of this training is conducted at National Academy of Defense Production, Nagpur. It conducts training in the field of technology, management, and public administration.

In Service Training: Apart from the above formal training structure, various in service courses are conducted by NADP in order to impart expertise in certain specialized fields. They include courses on use of technology, Transfer Pricing, International Taxation, bilateral and multilateral taxation agreements.

10.6 Variety of Opportunities for IOFS Officers

Apart from the usual work profile in the State government, IOFS Officers have ample opportunities to serve in organizations of State, national as well international level.