New Delhi, Jun 1 (IANS): Former Chief Information Commissioner Sudhir Bhargava and former Deputy National Security Advisor Rajiv Jain have been appointed as independent external monitors to look after affairs of Military Engineer Services (MES) and Border Road Organisation (BRO).
On May 31, Indian Defence Ministry appointed these retired officers to independently monitor and look after works of Military Engineer Services (MES) and Border Road Organisation (BRO).
In an office memorandum, the Defence ministry appointed panel of retired government officers as Independent External Monitors (IEMs) for MES and BRO.
They have been appointed for a term of three years.
The order stated: "The role and duties of above Independent External Monitors will be as per the latest revised Standard Operating Procedure to be issued by CVC. The CVC Circular No. 02/01/2017 dated 13.01.2017 is under revision and the mandate of IEMs will include works/procurement cases of Military Engineer Services and Border Road Organisation."
Sudhir Bhargava is former 1979 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre and secretary in ministry of social justice. He was appointed Chief Information Commissioner in December 2018 from where he retired in 2020.
Before being appointed as Deputy National Security Advisor, Jain was Intelligence Bureau chief.
Both the officers would be looking after works and procurement of Military Engineer Services (MES), the premier construction agency and one of the pillars of Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army which provides rear line engineering support to the Armed Forces.
It is one of largest construction and maintenance agencies in India with a total annual budget to the tune of approx Rs 13,000 crore.
It is responsible for creating the strategic and the operational infrastructure other than major roads, as also the administrative habitat for all three Services and the associated organisations of the Ministry of Defence.
They will be monitoring affairs of BRO, responsible for maintaining the road networks in the border areas of India. This organisation plays an important part in the infrastructure development of the border areas of the country.