NEW DELHI: Former soldiers are taking to arms again — this time to combat wildlife poaching and Maoist violence. Some former service personnel are also helping the authorities in curbing electricity theft, even as talks are on to utilise their expertise to provide security to the Delhi Metro, said a senior Army officer on Friday.

About 5,000 former soldiers have picked up arms to combat Maoist violence in Bihar, said Army Headquarter's Director-General of Resettlement (DGR) Major-General Harwant Krishan after addressing a training course for retiring soldiers. The ex-servicemen of the Bihar Auxiliary Force proved their mettle when they foiled a suspected Maoist raid on a bank in Sitamarhi district, close to the Nepal border. The Major-General said 1,200 ex-servicemen were on duty as forest guards in Rajasthan. The initiative to recruit former Army personnel was taken after a Wildlife Institute of India survey confirmed that the poaching mafia had robbed the Sariska Forest Reserve of its entire tiger population.

Major-General Krishan said the Army's Directorate-General of Resettlements helped secure re-employment to 16,000 ex-servicemen since January this year. In Haryana, the ex-servicemen were found employed for meter-reading by private agencies contracted by the Haryana State Electricity Board and for undertaking "Below Poverty Line" head count in the State. Talks were on with the Delhi Metro and Delhi Transport Corporation to institutionalise a framework for recruitment of ex-servicemen.

Earlier, Major-General Krishan addressed soldiers, due to retire shortly and undergoing a two-day career transition course at the Rajputana Rifles Regimental Centre. Also present were representatives from five private companies to brief the soldiers about employment opportunities and look for potential employees. The DGR said companies had been asked to maintain a salary bar to avoid exploitation of ex-servicemen. Due to the high attrition rate — about 60,000 men of the roughly 12-lakh-strong armed forces retire every year — re-employment of ex-servicemen has become a high priority area for the Government.

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