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डील अग्निकांड की दोबारा जांच – अमर उजाला

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देहरादून। रक्षा अनुसंधान एवं विकास संगठन (डीआरडीओ) की रक्षा इलेक्ट्रोनिक अनुप्रयोग प्रयोगशाला (डील) में हुए अग्निकांड की जांच नए सिरे से होगी। अग्नि, विस्फोटक तथा पर्यावरण सुरक्षा केंद्र (सीफीस) तिमरपुर को यह जिम्मा सौंपा है। डीआरडीओ की लैब सीफीस के तीन सदस्यीय जांच दल में वैज्ञानिक राजीव नारंग, एनके जैन और वीके शर्मा डील पहुंच चुके हैं। ये विशेषज्ञ अग्निकांड के असल कारणों का पता लगाकर रक्षा मंत्रालय को रिपोर्ट सौपेंगे। बीती चार जनवरी को हुए अग्निकांड से संस्थान की इलेक्ट्रोमैग्नेटिक इंटरफेरेंस इलेक्ट्रोमैग्नेटिक कंपेटिबिलिटी (ईएमआईईएमसी) टेस्टिंग लैब को भारी क्षति पहुंची थी। इसके अलावा लेबर रिकार्ड, कोऑपरेटिव सोसायटी व एनुअल मेंटिनेंस कान्ट्रेक्ट रूम खाक हो गए थे।
निदेशक डील आरसी अग्रवाल ने वैज्ञानिक डा.वीके दत्ता के अधीन चार सदस्यीय जांच कमेटी बनाई थी। 9 जनवरी को डा.दत्ता ने डीआरडीओ मुख्यालय को रिपोर्ट भेज दी। रिपोर्ट के बाद किसी भी अधिकारी के खिलाफ अभी तक जिम्मेदारी सुनिश्चित नहीं की गई है। ब्यूरो
Drdo

RTI-PMO-DRDO

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To                                                                                            Date – 13th February 2015
Shri Syed Ekram Rizwi,
Director & Central Public Information Officer,
Prime Minister’s Office,
South Block,
New Delhi – 110011
 

Sir. It is requested that kindly give direction to DRDO to honor RTI Act -2005, DRDO blindly refusing all RTI applications without apply the mind. This RTI request is completely related to corruption. No action or late action on corruption is drastically damaging the government image in common man.

Reference:

  1. My application dated 12 Feb 2014 under RTI Act 2005.
  2. Your letter No. RTI/01/2091/P/2014/0068 dated 25 Feb 2014
  3. My 12 complaints against Dr. A.K. Saxena, Director, DMSRDE, Kanpur.

CPIO, DRDO

Hello,

With above referenced letters kindly provide me the following information requested under the purview of the Right to Information, RTI Act, 2005 in respect of complaints against Dr. Arvind Kumar Saxena, Director, DMSRDE, Kanpur

  1. I have submitted 12 complaints on allegations of corruption against Dr. AK Saxena, Director, DMSRDE. [List Enclosed]
  2. Two FFICs were constituted by Sri Avinash Chander, DG, DRDO to inquire the complaints against Dr. A.K. Saxena.
  3. The three member first Fact Finding Inquiry Committee (FFIC) constituted by Sri Avinash Chander was consisted of  Chairman as Sri S.S. Negi, Scientist ‘H’ , Sri Manoj Bali, Scientist ‘G’ and Sri Jagdeep, Scientist ‘F’. First Fact Finding Inquiry Committee visited DMSRDE, Kanpur on 13th – 14th, and March 2014 for inquiry on the complaints submitted by me against Dr. A.K. Saxena.
  4. Sri Avinash Chander again set up four membered second Fact Finding Inquiry Committee. The second FFIC was constituted under chairmanship of Dr. D.C. Pandey, Scientist ‘H’ and three members Sri Hari Babu Srivastava, Scientist ‘G’, Sri Jagdeep, Scientist ‘F’ and Sri R.S. Mehta, Joint Director. The said committee visited DMSRDE, Kanpur on 9-10 July 2014.
  5. It is also observed that few order cancelled for which complaint was submitted, it is perfect evidence that FFIC found some manipulations in procurements.

Information Sought

  1. FFC Inquiry Report submitted by Sri S.S. Negi, OS, Chairman of Ist
  2. FFC Inquiry Report submitted by Dr. D.C. Pandey, OS, Chairman of IInd
  3. File noting of the action taken by DG, DRDO on first and second FFC Inquiry Reports.

Note : Matter is directly related to corruption and not exempted under Section 24 (1), as two fact finding committee is already constituted by director general DRDO

Regards

Prabhu  Dandriyal,
21-Sunderwala, Raipur, Dehradun -248008
Phone 0135- 2787750, Mobile- 9411114879,
e-mail id prabhudoon@gmail.com  website www.corruptionindrdo.com

Registration Number      PMOIN/R/2015/60398

Drdo

RTI-CVO-MOD-DMSRDE

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To                                                                                                        13th February 2015
Shri Sekhar Ranjan Amin,
Under Secretary  & CPIO,
Room No – 340, Office of Director of Vigilance,
B- Wing, Sena Bhawan, Rajaji Marg,
New Delhi -110105

Reference:

  1. Your letter No. 11/DO (Vig.)/RTI/2014 dated 05 August 2014.
  2. My application under RTI Act 2005 submitted online with Registration Number MODEF/R/2014/61766 dated 24 September 2014.

Hello,

With above referenced letters kindly provide me the following information requested under the purview of the Right to Information, RTI Act, 2005 in respect of respect of complaints against Dr. Arvind Kumar Saxena, Director, DMSRDE, Kanpur that was forwarded from CVC to Director (Vig.) & CVO (MOD) for necessary action. A complete list of complaints is enclosed as Enclosure-1 for your ready reference

  1. Status report of the complaints.
  2. Whether consolidated report on the complaints against Dr. AK Saxena & others of DMSRDE, DRDO, Kanpur has been received by Director (Vig.) and CVO (MOD) from DRDO as sought by your MOD ID no. 63/DO(Vig.)/CVC/2014 dated 04.08.2014 to Director (Vigilance & Security), DRDO. (Yes/No)
  3. If answer to point (1) is yes then provide the copy of the consolidated report received from Director (Vigilance & Security), DRDO.
  4. The action taken by Director (Vigilance) and CVO (MOD) on the report received from Director (Vigilance & Security), DRDO.
  5. Copy of Action Taken Report (ATR).
  6. The inquiry on complaints is completed or still cases are under inquiry

Regards

Prabhu  Dandriyal,
21-Sunderwala, Raipur, Dehradun -248008 
0135- 2787750,   9411114879,  
prabhudoon@gmail.com    www.corruptionindrdo.com

Registration Number         MODEF/R/2015/60347

Drdo

REQUEST FOR CONSTITUTION OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATING TEAM (SIT) FOR INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS OF CORRUPTION AGAINST DR. A.K. SAXENA, DIRECTOR, DMSRDE, KANPUR UNDER DRDO, MIN. OF DEFENCE

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To                                                                                                        13th February 2015
Hon’ble
Shri Manohar Parrikar,
Defence Minister,
104- South Block
New Delhi-110011
 
To
Shri R K Mathur
Defence Secretary & Defence R&D
101-A, South Block
New Delhi-110011

SUBJECT : REQUEST FOR CONSTITUTION OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATING  TEAM (SIT) FOR INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS OF CORRUPTION AGAINST DR. A.K. SAXENA, DIRECTOR, DMSRDE, KANPUR UNDER DRDO, MIN. OF DEFENCE.                      

Sir,

I humbly submit your kind attention towards corruption in tunes of crores at Defence Materials & Stores Research & Development Establishment (DMSRDE), Kanpur, an establishment under Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), Ministry of Defence, Government of India.

Dr. Arvind Kumar Saxena was appointed as Scientist ‘C’ on 28.04.1984 in DMSRDE, Kanpur and since then he is continuously posted at DMSRDE, Kanpur from past 30 years. He was never transferred from DMSRDE, Kanpur and since the date of his posting he is working at Kanpur.  The roots of the Dr. Saxena while working at DMSRDE, Kanpur has become so deep that he was involved in various activities involving the financial and administrative irregularities that leads corruption in DMSRDE.

Dr. Arvind Kumar Saxena, Scientist ‘G’ was appointed as Director, DMSRDE, Kanpur wef 01 January 2011. In spite of the fact that he has been involved in various financial and administrative irregularities , Dr. Saxena was  promoted to the rank of Scientist ‘H’ wef 02 August 2012 and since then he is  holding the rank of Scientist ‘H’ and working as Director, DMSRDE.

The right from his appointment as Director, he was involved in various kinds of administrative and financial irregularities that lead corruption in tunes of crores. Several complaints were made against Dr. Arvind Kumar Saxena to then Defence Minister.

I am an RTI activist and social worker running a website corruptionindrdo.com to expose the corruption in DRDO. I also made as far as 12 complaints regarding corruption in procurements of various instruments, equipment and materials in DMSRDE by DMSRDE officials to Central Vigilance Commission, Hon’ble Defence Minister and DGR&D, DRDO. These complaints were filed by me during 29 Nov 2013 to 11 June 2014. Total cost of store items procured against which complaints were filed is about Rs. 7.5 crore. A complete list of complaints filed by me to CVC and Hon’ble Defence Minister is enclosed as Enclosure-1.

All the aforesaid complaints made by me have been endorsed by Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). CVC has taken cognizance of aforesaid complaints and registered on prima facia.  These complaints have been forwarded to Chief Vigilance Office (CVO), Ministry of Defence for further enquiry/investigation of the aforesaid complaints. Under the provisions of RTI Act 2005 the CPIO, CVC vide letter no. CVC/RTI/13/1862/241925 dated 18.03.2014 informed to me that his complaints have been forwarded to CVO (MOD) for investigation. Letter enclosed as Enclosure-2.

Under RTI Act, CPIO, CVO MOD informed that all complaints have been forwarded to Director, Vigilance & Security, DRDO for further inquiry and asked the consolidated report from DRDO vide their letter dated 04 August 2014. Letter enclosed as Enclosure-3.

Meantime, a Fact Finding Inquiry Committee (FFIC) was constituted by Shri Avinash Chander, DG, DRDO under chairmanship of Dr S S Negi to inquire the complaints against Dr. A.K. Saxena. The Fact Finding Inquiry Committee visited DMSRDE, Kanpur on 13th – 14th, March 2014 for inquiry on the complaints submitted against Dr. A.K. Saxena. The said committee submitted its report to Shri Avinash Chander action only GOD knows the truth.

Shri Avinash Chander again set up second Fact Finding Inquiry Committee in which Chairman was equivalent rank to Dr. Saxena   and three junior officers were members of the Fact Finding Inquiry Committee. The second FFIC was constituted under chairmanship of Dr. D.C. Pandey, Scientist ‘H’, LRDE, Bangalore and three members Sri Hari Babu Srivastava, Scientist ‘G’, Sri Jagdeep, Scientist ‘F’ and Sri R.S. Mehta, Joint Director. The said committee visited DMSRDE, Kanpur recently on 9-10 July 2014. Therefore constitution of two FFIC by Shri Avinash Chander establishes that there were complaints against Dr. A.K. Saxena but to give him patronage and support the Shri Avinash Chander set up illegal FFIC. This second FFIC also submitted its report to Shri Avinash Chander but still no action against Dr. A.K Saxena took place by DRDO.

Sir , Shri Avinash Chander was supporting the corrupt practices at DMSRDE, Kanpur. In this connection I again submitted complaints to Hon’ble Prime Minister and Hon’ble Defence Minister in October-November 2014.

Despite since long time all 12 complaints are still pending with Director (Vig.) & CVO (MOD), South Block, New Delhi and no action has been taken so far.

Dr. A.K. Saxena, Director, DMSRDE is going to retire on 31 July 2015 and only five months remain for his superannuation. To give safe passage to safely retire to Dr. A.K. Saxena even after making corruption in tunes of crores is totally against the Government policy of “Zero Tolerance for Corruption”.

Therefore to take speedy action in the corruption cases of DMSRDE registered by CVC and forwarded to CVO (MOD), I kindly request high level Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigation and speedy action against corrupt officials of DMSRDE, Kanpur.

Regards

Prabhu  Dandriyal,
21-Sunderwala, Raipur,
Phone 0135- 2787750, Mobile- 9411114879,
e-mail id prabhudoon@gmail.com  website www.corruptionindrdo.com

Annexure:-

  1. List of complaints/cases filed to CVC and Defence Minister against Dr. Arvind Kumar Saxena, Director, DMSRDE, Kanpur.
  2. Letter CVC/RTI/13/1862/241925 dated 18.03.2014 from CVC.
  3. Letter from CVO(MOD) dated 04 Aug 2014.enclosure1INFORMATION PROVIDED BY CVC ON COMPLAINTS AGAINST ARVIND KUMAR SAXENA, DIRECTOR, DMSRDE, KANPURRTI was filed to CVC on 29 Jan 2014 and ACPIO replied vide letter No. CVC/RTI/13/1862-24017 that “Information has been gathered, a suitable reply will be sent shortly”.Vide letter No. CVC/RTI/13/1862/241925 dated 18.03.2014 CPIO, CVC informed that:
    1. Complaint dated 29.11.2013 was sent for necessary action to CVO, MOD vide OM No. 1323/2014/V9 dated 30.01.2014.
    2. Compliant dated 17.12.2013 was sent for necessary action to CVO, MOD vides OM No. 2056/2014/V9 dated 19.02.2014.
    3. Complaints dated 24.12.2013, 26.12.2013, 22.01.2014 have been received in the Commission and their complaint Nos. are 5022/2014/Vigilance9, 4967/2014/ Vigilance9 & 5387/2014/Vigilance9 respectively. These complaints are under consideration in the Commission.
    4. Complaints dated 28.12.2013, 06.01.2014 & 09.01.2014 have been received and these have been sent to CVO, MOD for necessary action vide Commissions OM No. 30714/2013/Vigilance9 dated 26.12.2013, 3617/2014/Vigilance9 dated 10.03.2014 respectively.
    5. Complaints dated 12 Jan 2014, 06 Feb 2014 & 03 March 2014 are consideration of Commission.
    6. Complaint dated 11 June 2014 has been forwarded to CVO (MOD) for further action.enclosure-2

CVO MOD DMSRDE case Cvo rti reply DMSRDE case2 Cvo rti reply DMSRDE caseRTI reply CVO DMSRDE

Drdo

DRDO Pulled Temple Rath on ‘Inspiration’ Bullock Power

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By Pradip Kumar
Published: 08th Feb 2015 05:57:37 AM – The Sunday Standard
NEW DELHI: It’s a bullock-load of inspiration pushing technology. DRDO’s controversial Rs 5 crore expenditure on a silver chariot for a religious Rath Yatra, was an “inspired” decision to save the chariot bullock from carrying the burden, India’s premier defence technology developer has said in a revealing internal communication.

In response to a question raised by two parliamentarian in the LS for seeking details of DRDO’s spending on a chariot for a temple in Zero hour during last session, the RD&E, Pune laboratory, which manufactured this chariot claims in the last week that ‘making of Rath was not just a devotional activity but also an interesting technical task.’ They went into saying that Chariot became a reason and inspiration for technology development.
RDO claims they only spend Rs 17 lack from its budget and rest of amount came as donation from devotees.
DRDO initiated the project after the bullock pulling the Rath died in front of the DRDO laboratory. Interestingly, the DRDO believes that the expenditure on the “battery-operated Rath” which was donated to a Pune temple after the temple’s Rath puller, a bullock, died, presumably because of carrying heavy burden, was not a religious activity or waste of public money but a technological wonder which can solve the problem of “transporting heavy burden in difficult terrains.”

S. Guruprasad, Director of Research and Development Establishment Labrotary, Pune(R&DE), which manufactured the chariot, has written to the DRDO headquarters in response to matter raised in the Lok Sabha during the zero hour by two members. In a four page official communication dated January 27, 2015 (seen by The Sunday Standard), Guruprasad, while defending his decision said that ‘the making of Rath (chariot) was not just a devotional activity, but also an interesting technical task. Apart from saving the bullock the burden, there were technology developments of immense value directly as a result of this engagement’.

Explaining the technology used for developing the battery-operated chariot, DRDO said that the battery power is drawn when going uphill, and the battery gets charged while downhill. “The technology hence developed has a defense application. The trailer-based system can be taken to difficult terrain which is currently no possible…The social significance of the design concept and technology especially for the burdened bullock carts are immense,” Director explained.

He said, ‘Even, if the chariot was not built, the technology development involves building lab prototypes, many times, a number of them until desired results are obtained. In this case, the chariot became a reason and ‘inspiration’ for technology development. The expenditure would have happened anyway for technology development.”

Shiv Sena MP from Nasik Hemant Tukaram Godse and a MP from Patiala Dharam Veer Ghandhi of AAP had asked on December 18, 2014, about ‘gifting of chariot to Alandi temple out of DRDO fund. DRDO maintained that the approximate cost of the technology of Rs 20 lakh was sanctioned from the financial powers of the Laboratory Director under “build up revenue” and rest of the money came from devotees, who approached R&DE for doing the decorative work to the convert the trailer into a Rath. In the end, Guruprasad has written that after the Yatra of 2014(June, 2014), the chariot is under the custody of R&DE and in the inventory of the laboratory.

Drdo

Perform or perish

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by Harsh Pant Wednesday, 4 February 2015 dna

The Modi government has done the right thing by jolting an ossified bureaucracy

India’s ossified bureaucracy is being shuffled like never before. The most recent development in this realm has been the rather dramatic sacking of Sujatha Singh from the post of the Foreign Secretary and the appointment of S Jaishankar to that position. The rumours about this development were floating around for quite some time. Still, when the decision actually came to replace Singh about seven months before the end of her tenure, it ended up sending shock waves through the complacent Indian foreign policy establishment.

No one seems to be contesting that Jaishankar is a great choice. Yet the critics of the decision have largely focused on bureaucratic niceties by suggesting Jaishankar’s appointment not only curtailed Singh’s career but also ended up blocking the career prospects of some senior Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers. The reaction of the Congress Party has been rather strange with former information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari trying to link the action to the Khobragade episode involving an IFS officer who was jailed in the US two years ago for allegedly mistreating her maid. He tweeted: “Is sacking of Foreign Secretary late retribution for her stand on Devyani Khobragade affair? Removal after a Presidential visit ‘coincidental’?”

Such criticisms of the government’s decision are missing the key point. This decision should be viewed as part of a larger, and much needed, bureaucratic shake-up that the Prime Minister is engendering. Just two weeks ago, the government had also terminated the appointment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief Avinash Chander, 15 months before his contract was to end.

Prime Ministers till now have devoted, at best, occasional interest in nuclear and strategic policy issues, mainly preferring to delegate substantial levels of policy making discretion to organisations like the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The conduct of the DRDO has been largely driven by an effort to protect its direct communicative link to the Prime Minister, secure recurrent generous funding, and maintain a high level of autonomy. Given its significant budgetary resources in the context of a developing nation, DRDO has repeatedly failed in delivering quality output. Major projects of the DRDO including the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, Nag missile, Long-range Surface-to-Air missile project and the Airborne Early Warning and Control System have either not been completed on time or have resulted in huge cost overruns. It took the agency almost a decade and a half to operationalise the Agni-I.

The inattention or inability of the Prime Minister’s office so far to take concrete steps to improve the DRDO’s performance and compel it to cooperate with other defence bureaucratic stakeholders has permitted it a remarkable degree of self-governance in budgetary prioritisation, project design and delivery time-scale planning, and setting operational policy through regular statements outlining the doctrinal meaning of DRDO products. Prime Minister Modi had criticised the DRDO for its chalta hai attitude during an address in Kargil in August last year when he had said, “If a project was conceived in 1992, it should not be the case in 2014 we are still saying it will take some more time.” And in December last year, India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence had censured the DRDO, accusing it of shoddy research, chronic inefficiency, inordinate delays, corruption and its penchant for reverse engineering. The government seems to have taken the bull by the horns and removed Chander to ensure some semblance of accountability in the organisation.

The appointment of Jaishankar as foreign secretary is also along the same lines that merit would be rewarded. The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) needs to recognise that business as usual is no longer enough. At a time when India’s global imprint is expanding rapidly, a risk-averse foreign policy bureaucracy will not be able to meet the aspirations of the nation. The idea that seniority should determine who should be the nation’s top diplomat is an idea whose time has long gone. But bureaucratic resistance has prevented any substantive reforms in the service. There are hardly any incentives to perform and hardly any penalties for underperformance.

As a result, nearly everyone in the diplomatic service manages to rise to the upper echelons. Despite the fact that the best and the brightest are no longer attracted to the IFS, there have been few attempts to cultivate outside expertise, with hardly any opportunities for lateral entry or temporary rotations. In fact, it was Manmohan Singh who had wanted to introduce lateral entry in the Indian bureaucracy in his first term but the idea was quietly killed by the bureaucracy (who else?). Personnel are scarce and demands are growing on the IFS but Indian diplomats have not managed to transform the service and change its character to suit the needs of the time. Is it any wonder then that ad hocism pervades Indian foreign policy thinking?

Bureaucracies, if not competently led and directed, tend to morph into interest groups with a focus on preserving their own institutional privileges. In democracies, effective political control and guidance is absolutely critical if the role of bureaucracies is not to become corrosive on policymaking. It is in the nature of bureaucracies to be risk-averse. Leave them alone and they will muddle along the path of least resistance, trying to increase their power by resisting change. The Modi government is right in shaking things up and making Indian bureaucracies more accountable and effective. But much more remains to be done!

The author teaches at King’s College, London

Drdo

‘Sacking Not a Good Word to Hear After 42 Years’, India’s Agni Man Says

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http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/sacking-not-a-good-word-to-hear-after-42-years-india-s-agni-man-says/355104

Top scientist Avinash Chander, who was recently ousted as chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation or DRDO has said the termination of his contract was “totally unexpected” and that he was taken by “surprise” by the swift move of the government. “Sacking is not a good word to hear after 42 years of service,” Mr Chander told NDTV, also saying that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was well within his rights to choose his team. The minister had said the government wanted younger scientists on the team.