Tag Archives: Narendra Modi

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BIO-TOILETS STINK AS COMMUTERS, AUTHORITIES PLAY BLAME GAME

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By Rajendra B Aklekar, Mumbai Mirror | May 5, 2015, 12.05 AM IST
Bio-toilets that were fitted in train coaches amid much fanfare are already stinking, with some passengers complaining that the stench is so foul that it is unbearable for those sitting near the toilets.

biotoilet mumbai mirrorAccording to Central Railway’s (CR) official data, of the 4,000 coaches of the long-distance CR trains, 450 were fitted with bio-toilets. The project had gathered momentum after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and urged authorities to maintain cleanliness in trains and on tracks. A few coaches in the Rajdhani Express trains of Western Railway (WR) were also provided with bio-toilets.

Unlike traditional train toilets that discharge waste on the tracks, the new system treats the waste inside a tank with the help of bacteria and converts it into harmless gas and water. The Railways had signed MoU with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the project, and the anaerobic bacteria were procured from Antarctica.

Commuters, however, are far from impressed. Nitin Parmar, secretary of Karjat Railway Passenger Association, said, “In most trains with bio-toilets, the stench is unbearable — not only near the toilet but also within the coaches. This is not a one-off thing. I have been observing this often. Biotoilets have been fitted in random coaches, and they all have this foul smell. Passengers sitting near the door have to keep their noses covered all the time. The activist travels between Mumbai and Pune regularly and has done a survey of trains with bio-toilets.

In fact, a maintenance worker to whom Mumbai Mirror spoke, also complained about the unbearable stench. “The technology is good but it is not being maintained the way it should be. There are a lot of processes to maintain but train coaches cannot be practically detained for such a long time as they are always scheduled for runs. If clean toilets are giving out foul smell, there must be something wrong,” he added, on the condition of anonymity.

Another staffer said, “If any foul smell is detected after the removal of waste and cleaning of the toilet, the tank has to be topped up with nearly 15 litres of bacteria. A check is conducted after a week and samples are the n sent for lab testing.”

A former member of the national railway passenger committee, Shailesh Goyal, said, “Bio-toilets are not a practical idea for trains. At many WR stations, the train is back on track within two hours. There is no time to clean the toilets. Also, bio-toilets require hi-end mechanism and a dedicated staff to keep them clean.”

Subhash Gupta, a member of the divisional railway users consultative committee, said he will raise the issue at the official railway forum next week.

While railway officials refused to speak on record, a senior official said, “Not only are all new coaches to be fitted with bio-toilets but the workshops are being instructed to fit in bio-toilets in old trains, taken up for maintenance, as well.” Another staffer said the biggest problem were the commuters themselves. “Many bio-toilets have become choked because passengers dump anything from water bottles to gutkha pouches and polythene in them. The bio-digester bins have turned into garbage bins. We will intensify awareness campaigns to avoid this,” said an official.

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PMO to replace existing public web-interface with new portal ‘PRAGATI’

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By Rajesh Ramachandran, ET Bureau | 24 Mar, 2015, 10.20AM IST

pmo-to-replace-existing-public-web-interface-with-new-portal-pragati
By categorising and sub-categorising themes and departments, the new portal will help users to be more specific in their complaints.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a brand new website for public grievances on Wednesday. Corruption in central government seems to be the top concern as the PMO replaces the existing public web-interface for the prime minister with ‘PRAGATI’, the new portal. The portal is getting launched along with the PM’s monthly programme of interaction with union secretaries and chief secretaries through video-conferencing.

While the Manmohan Singh-era public grievances portal, “PMO CPGRAMS”, had a category on “corruption/malpractice”, the new one will go beyond the simple label. The corruption category will have nine sub-categories on its drop-down menu just to register complaints of corruption within various government departments.

The departments listed under the category of corruption are telecom, railways, department of financial services, ministry of power, petroleum, heavy industries, urban development, road transport, rural development and others. This could even be treated as a list of departments with the highest potential for corruption.

By categorising and sub-categorising themes and departments, the new portal will help users to be more specific in their complaints.

For instance, harassment is further sub-categorised into minorities, SC/ST, backward class, women, children, differently-abled and others. Also, the theme ‘police’ would have separate sub-categories for corruption, atrocities and inaction of police along with reguregular policing issues like murder and rape.

The new architecture has the back-end bureaucratic and technological support to ensure that these grievances are addressed and pursued to their logical conclusion.

All the issues flagged by the PMO will be uploaded a week ahead of the “PRAGATI day”, which will be the third Wednesday of every month. Union secretaries and chief secretaries will have to offer their comments and updates about the issues by the Monday prior to the PRAGATI day.

Finally, the PM will get to look at the issues addressed by the relevant departments and then discuss them with the concerned secretary or the chief secretary through video conferencing on the third Wednesday of every month. PM’s directions on every issue will remain in the system for further follow up and review till the issue is closed.

The portal is thus designed to keep every complainant engaged with the government machinery at the highest level and to ensure systemic corrections through the redressal of the complaints.

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OneIndia Exclusive: DRDO to abandon indigenous fighter jet engine Kaveri project

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Written by: Dr Anantha Krishnan M,Wednesday, November 19, 2014,

Bengaluru, Nov 18: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has decided to wind up the Kaveri engine (GTX-35VS ) programme, signaling an end to a desi dream of equipping its own fighter jet with a home-grown power plant. Sources in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed to OneIndia on Tuesday that the DRDO has already moved a file recently seeking the closure of the ambitious engine development project undertaken by Bengaluru-based Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE).kaveri engin
The proposal now needs to get the approval of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and finally the clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) – a process expected to take at least a year. The Kaveri project, which began in the mid-80s, was aimed at powering the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. GTRE has spent so far Rs 2,106 crore on the project so far and could only fly the engine for 73 hours on the IL-76 Flying Test Bed (FTB) in Russia. The delay in the project saw DRDO choosing the GE 404 engine for Tejas Mk-1 and GE 414 for Tejas Mk-II. GTRE gets additional funds Sources said that the DRDO has sanctioned Rs 300 crore for GTRE to take up future projects. “The lab is gearing up to take up some futuristic projects and the sanctions have been already given. Another additional sanction of Rs 700 crore is on its way to help realize these gen-next technologies,” an official said.kaveri engin 1

Sources confirm that a separate proposal of Rs 2,600 crore to develop engines for an ‘ambitious project’ is under consideration now. The lab has been given another Rs 70 crore for a strategic programme. Part of DRDO’s bold decision, confirms DG Refusing to divulge the finer details, Dr K Tamilmani, Director-General (Aero), DRDO, confirmed to OneIndia that the Kaveri project will be scrapped. “Yes. These are part of the bold stand being taken by DRDO. Whereever we have found bottlenecks for long time, with no realistic solutions, it’s better to move on. It is an honest stand we are taking,” Tamilmani said. When asked whether the decision was a fall out of the recent remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking DRDO to come out of the delay trap, the senior official refused to make a direct comment. “If you are fit to run only for 50 km, why attempt 100 km? DRDO has realized its mistakes of the past and we have no hesitation in taking some bold steps,” he said. Sources said that the MoF has sought some clarifications from DRDO on the Kaveri project, before the matter could finally reach the CCS.kaveri engin 2

Years of hard work won’t go waste: GTRE Director Dr C P Ramanarayanan, Director, GTRE, said that the DRDO decision might not be final. Leading a team of 900-plus staff at GTRE, Dr Ramanarayanan is now left with the task of inspiring the team to launch future projects. “This is not the end of the road. We have identified some 12 core areas of technologies and various teams are already at it. Years of hard work put in by the team won’t go waste either,” Dr Ramanarayanan, a torpedo specialist, told OneIndia.

kaveri engin 3He said world over not many countries have progressed ahead in making engines. “We have made a good start and despite the delays, proved our capabilities to our best of abilities. The lessons learnt will not go down the drain. India must become self sufficient in making aero engines and our efforts will continue,” he added.

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Defence deals stuck due to lobbying, Parrikar says

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TNN | Nov 13, 2014, 12.29AM IST
PANAJI: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said most defence deals are stuck because of lobbying, vested interests, and kickbacks that happened during the last 10 years of Congress rule at the Centre. He said his priority is to clear the controversy and speed up acquisition in a transparent manner.

“My target is to clear all weapons purchase deals one by one on a priority basis, beginning next week,” said the country’s new defence minister, adding that he will also strengthen the army’s fighting capability, logistics, and infrastructure. He further said he will strengthen the armed forces with pre-emptive measures that discourage cross-border firing on the line of control.

He said India need not worry about Pakistan or China or any other country as the country’s defences are strong.
Speaking to party workers on his maiden visit to Goa after being sworn into the Union Cabinet, he said that after being extensively briefed over the last two days, he has realized that India has no need to worry about any other country.

Parrikar, who is on a five day visit to Goa, told media persons that everybody knows what happened in the Agusta Westland VVIP chopper deal and there was a question mark raised on the acquisition of fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF). He refused to elaborate on the fighter aircraft deal.

“Most (defence) acquisitions made have some controversy. I don’t want to go into the details, but my job is to clear the controversy,” he said, adding that the more you go in for tightening on corruption, the more you raise the question, and the deals get more complex, and one should adopt a transparent method where no questions are raised.

Asked to react on incursions in Arunachal Pradesh by the Chinese military, Parrikar said this type of incursion and crossing the imaginary line of control happens many times in many sectors, but it is taken care of on the same day or within a couple of days. “Except on one or two occasions, there has been no serious incident.” He added the ministry will take steps to avoid such incidents in the future.

He said he will look at the country being able to produce indigenous weapons based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘make in India’ concept. He also said that revamping of the DRDO is on the cards, but “as of now I have not taken any decision. Right now, I want them to perform”. He further said the ministry will concentrate on improving training capacity, and filling up vacancies of officers in the army.

Parrikar was given a rousing welcome at the Dabolim airport by Goa chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar and the state cabinet.

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Extension plea of top scientists rejected, govt bats for younger directors

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Manu Pubby New Delhi, November 4, 2014 | UPDATED 20:04 IST- Indiatodayin

The government has struck down a request by the DRDO to grant four of its top scientists a service extension with the Prime Minister stepping in personally to ensure that the organisation does not add to its massive bank of scientists who have been working well past their retirement age.

In a move that has brought cheer to the younger scientists of the organization, the PMO refused to entertain a request by the DRDO’s departmental peer review committee to extend the service of four of its lab directors beyond the age of 60 years.

In the past, recommendations of the peer review committee were routinely accepted by the government and in most cases scientists were given an extension of two years to four years. However, as reported by the India Today, the new government is keen to have a younger profile of scientists in the organization and has already expressed concern about the increasing age profile in a field that requires cutting edge technology and expertise.

Sources said that four scientists including Prof MP Kaushik (DRDE Director), Dr VC Padaki (DEBEL Director) and DS Sistla Ravind (LRDE Director) had been recommended by DRDO Chief Avinash Chander for an extension of service. While the file made it all the way through the appointments committee of cabinet, sources said that the request was turned at the Prime Minister’s desk. The DLRL Lab director is also not to get an extension of service.

Officials said that the decision not to grant an extension was taken as part of the government’s new policy to promote younger talent with PM Narendra Modi already instructing that at least five labs should have directors below the age of 35.

However, as things most top scientists at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) who are tasked with creating weapons for future have passed the retirement age of 60 and are on service extensions.

The old age problem starts from the very head of the organization with DRDO chairman Avinash Chander already on two extensions. The previous government even approved a extraordinary contract to give Chander a 18-month contractual tenure from November when he turns 64, the maximum age till which service extensions can be given.

As reported by the India Today, most director generals at the headquarters and the heads of six of DRDO’s 54 labs and establishments are currently on extension. As many as 10 of the 16 top DRDO scientists are on extension. Internal surveys have found that nearly 87 per cent of the young scientists who join DRDO soon get disenchanted with the archaic, rigid structure of the research body that does not reward extraordinary performance with proportional career growth.

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Army Tramples on Faulty DRDO Study on Siachen Deployment

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By Pradip R Sagar
Published: 02nd Nov 2014 06:06:55 AM The New Indian Express – The Sunday Standard

Vigilant Indian soldier - Siachen
Vigilant Indian soldier – Siachen

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise visit this Diwali to the world’s highest battlefield, Siachen, to applaud the Indian army troops deployed there again brought into national focus the difficulty of operating under such adverse climatic conditions.

A study by Defence Research and Development Organisation, India’s premier defence research institute, to find solutions and shorten the acclimatization period has been junked by the Army.

Keeping unforeseen events in mind, the Army wanted to reduce the pre-acclimatisation training period to faster deploy its troops to high-altitude locations in cases of emergency. And for this, the DRDO was mandated to carry out a study on how to reduce the pre-acclimatisation training period in May 2009 with budget of over `3 crore. Delhi-based Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), a wing of DRDO, carried out the study for which they selected 210 soldiers. In order to study the soldiers’ physiology changes, they were asked to stay in a make-shift chamber filled with nitrogen for intermittent periods. But the Army has rubbished the study report and criticised the methods adopted by the DIPAS scientists.

In a strongly worded four-page letter to DIPAS on 10 September, the office of the Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS) has raised serious objections and sought explanation on various key points related to the study including selection of troops for the study, use of multiple investigators to collect data, use of master step test as an indicator of exercise performance for high altitude and disparity in heart rate date from the same cohort at different points of the report.

DIPAS had used intermittent hypoxia study at sea level before dispatching soldiers to high-altitude locations. Explaining the terminology, a DRDO scientist said that Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT) is a test protocol usually given to the individual with reduced oxygen concentration as prevailed in high altitude for pre-acclimatising them at sea level in a normobaric hypoxic chamber, before they are deployed for high mountain warfare.

On the basis the outcome of the study, two costly normobaric hypoxic chambers were planned to be set up in Chandigarh to cater northern command and Sukhna for eastern command troops with a cost of over `10 lakh.

Reacting strongly to the samples of troops taken, that had men who had already served in high-altitude postings, the DGAFMS raised concerns on the validity of conclusions drawn from the data presented. While seeking justification for the selection of re-inductees as study subjects, the Army has said, “Current knowledge on the phenomenon of de-acclimatisation is limited. It is accepted by many experts in the field that certain physiological changes induces on exposure on high altitude may persist beyond one month of return to sea level.”

“Hence the choice of re-inductees as study subjects raises questions about the validity of date being presented, especially since the aim of the project is to extrapolate the findings to healthy soldiers being rapidly inducted to high altitude, in all probability, for the first time,” DGAFMC said in his detailed response to DIPAS study.

When contacted, DRDO spokesperson Ravi Gupta refused to comment as it is a classified matter.

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Pranab Mukherjee, Narendra Modi ask people to use technology to fight corruption

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Press Trust of India | New Delhi October 27, 2014

President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called for making optimum use of modern technology in tackling corruption.

In his message on the beginning of ‘Vigilance week‘ starting today, the President said “use of modern technologies can play an important role in eliminating human interface in service delivery systems.”

Emphasising that it is a collective responsibility of citizen as well government officials to fight corruption, Mukherjee said corruption is a complex problem that needed multi-faceted action.

“One of them is the use of technology that can help promote openness and transparency,” he said and asked people to adopt technology initiatives in combating corruption to maximise benefits.

The Prime Minister stressed on the integrity of public servants. “It is needless to point out that integrity of public servants and transparency in public offices is utmost necessary in making transparent and efficient administration free of corruption,” Modi said.

“I appreciate the CVC’s outreach initiatives and endeavours to combat corruption with optimum use of technology,” he said.

Vice President Hamid Ansari said in his message that eradication of corruption from society is not only a legal obligation but also a moral duty of every Indian.

The vigilance awareness Week will be observed till November 1. The theme of the week is “Combating Corruption – Technology as an enabler“.

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Narendra Modi government takes RTI to another level: All replies to be put online

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Aman Sharma, ET Bureau Oct 22, 2014, 02.20AM IST

(The Department of Personnel…)
NEW DELHI: It had been expected to dilute the UPA government’s showpiece Right to Information (RTI) Act that had become a scourge of sorts for its ministers and bureaucrats and was even blamed by some as a contributing factor for the policy paralysis during its reign. But the Narendra Modi-led BJP government has done the reverse and taken RTI to quite another level.

Starting next month, all replies given under RTI by ministries will be posted online, available for access to all and not just to persons seeking the information. This will mean unprecedented scale of disclosure and cheer transparency advocates, especially those in the NGO sector with whom this government has had a testy relationship. Until now, only the person filing the RTI application seeking replies from a ministry or a government department would get the reply and that too mostly via post.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Tuesday issued an official memorandum to all central ministries and departments directing them to take “immediate action” to ensure that “the facility to upload the reply to RTI application and first appeal on the website of the respective ministry or department” may be started from October 31. Replies to queries will be put up on ministries’ website and be available for all to view and not just the person behind the query.

The move has won the government plaudits. Satyanand Mishra, former Chief Information Commissioner, told ET that the step takes transparency under the RTI Act to “just another level.” “It is a very good and welcome step. It will not only improve transparency but also reduce workload of government officials as it will help eliminating possibility of repeated RTI queries on the same issue,” Mishra said.

“As far as person whose RTI reply is put online, someone seeking transparency in form of a RTI plea should not have any problem is government shows the same transparency and makes the reply to him public,” he added. Incidentally, the UPA government too had tried to do a similar thing and even passed instructions to this effect in April last year, but its move could never be implemented.

A DoPT official told ET that the Modi government was now implementing what could not be done by its predecessor, noting that the RTI Act had a specific provision for suo-moto disclosure of information. “Any person can now check a website to see what information has already been asked for and provided under RTI and hence the Ministry will be relieved of answering the same queries again and again. It will also bring transparency,” a senior DoPT official said, requesting anonymity.

The DoPT note to ministries, while exhorting disclosure, also warns them to exercise caution while dealing with information that could affect privacy of individuals.

“It may be noted that RTI applications and appeals received and their responses relating to personal information of an individual may not be disclosed, if they do not serve any public interest,” the note said.

On its part, the DoPT has already added, on a pilot basis, a new feature on its website that gives an option to all Central Public Information Officers to upload replies to RTI on its site. The PMO recently led by example by disclosing the details on number of staff, PM’s staff and also the assets of all central ministers.

The UPA birthed the RTI with great pride in 2005, but found itself bruised periodically by the transparency revolution it had unleashed. Some political storms triggered by the RTI during the UPA era include letters between Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi on RTI amendments; in the telecom scam, the communication between Singh and the then-telecom minister A Raja; the exchange between the PM and the CJI on the declaration of assets by judges and letters from three sports ministers that flagged off the c o r r uption in the 2010 Commonwealth Games spending.

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No extensions sans ACC okay: Government to DRDO

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By Aman Sharma, ET Bureau | 27 Sep, 2014,

NEW DELHI: In a message to the Defence Research Development Organisation that has over a dozen scientists working on tenures beyond 60, the government has frowned at the tendency of giving extensions to scientists without consulting the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is said to be unhappy with DRDO’s functioning and had recently advocated that five out of the 52 DRDO labs be manned by young scientists after reports with the government revealed that as many as 358 scientists had quit DRDO between 2009 and 2013.

A government note sent on Friday to nine ministries and departments which have specialists in scientific or medical fields, including DRDO and Department of Space, the Department of Personnel and Training has said that the ACC headed by the prime minister has observed that in some cases, departments have unilaterally extended the service officers beyond the age of superannuation without obtaining the approval of ACC.

“It is reiterated that in absence of specific approval of ACC towards extension of services beyond the date of superannuation, an officer should stand retired on his date of superannuation and under no circumstances should the Ministry/Department extend his services beyond superannuation unilaterally without approval of ACC,” the note says. This also comes on the heels of the success of the Mars Orbiter Mission where Modi had praised scientists at ISRO for the feat.

In Friday’s note, the policy drawn up by the NDA government in 2002 was pointed to, which said that any tenure extensions to scientists should be “only in really exceptional circumstances” and only if the retiring specialist “is not just one of the outstanding officers but is really head and shoulders above the rest”.

That policy also said that too many cases of extensions are likely to cause “frustration and affect morale of upcoming scientists who have exposure to latest technological developments.” In 2012, DRDO admitted that 37 scientists — 12 of whom were in distinguished category — were on extended tenures. This was despite the Rama Rao Committee, which carried out the first external review of DRDO in 2008, calling for a younger profile of top scientists. DRDO secretary Avinash Chander is also working on an extension.

ET had reported on August 23 that Modi was not happy about this situation and had sought all details after he was told about the high attrition rate among younger scientists. Friday’s note also goes out to the departments of Atomic Energy, Science and Technology, Scientific and Industrial Research, Information Technology and Environment Ministry.extension dopt

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PM scraps DRDO’s ‘retirement benefits’ committee

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ABHINANDAN MISHRA New Delhi | 20th Sep 2014 – The Sunday Gaurdian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to scrap the Departmental Peer Review Committee (DPRCs) of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) in an attempt to revamp the outfit. The main job of this committee of DRDO scientists is to grant extensions to fellow scientists. The committee has come under scrutiny after complaints that all that these scientists do is to park retiring and retired colleagues in important posts year after year. “The PM has ordered the scrapping of the committee that reviews cases to grant extension of service to scientists who are superannuating. Giving repeated extensions to scientists, whose capabilities could be questioned, is one of the major problems with the DRDO,” a DRDO official said.sunday gaurdians clip

Sources said that 15 top scientists in DRDO, including Director General (DG) Avinash Chander, are on extension. After getting two extensions, Chander is now on contract. “What should have been an exception, has become a norm here. Every year, six to eight senior people in DRDO get extensions. This has led to an alarming attrition rate in the organisation,” said a scientist who has been working with DRDO for the last 12 years. In the seven years between 2007 and 2013, at least 687 scientists left the organisation, which comes to a rate of 100 scientists leaving the organisation every year.

The DRDO, best known for missing manufacturing deadlines, is gearing up for a hard time after PM Modi told its scientists and officials that their lackadaisical approach would not be tolerated anymore. Last month, while addressing the annual award function of the organisation in the national capital, the PM expressed his unhappiness over the way things were working in the organisation.

“The Prime Minister is clearly unhappy with the way the DRDO has been functioning, as most of our projects are running years behind schedule, resulting in cost overruns and compromising of national security. During the event, he made sure that that senior officials were made aware of his views on the subject and the fact that such lackadaisical approach would not work anymore. With the government approving 49% FDI in defence, we need to start performing now,” said a senior DRDO official. Modi, while commenting on DRDO said that the organisation “should not say in 2014 that a project conceived in 1992 will take some more time”.

DRDO, founded in 1958, has a network of 54 laboratories, employs close to 35,000 employees including 7,500 scientists. In July this year, the BJP-led NDA government increased DRDO’s budget from Rs 5,985 crore — as provided by the UPA’s interim Budget in February — to Rs 9,298 crore, the largest ever increase in the organisation’s history.

However, despite being treated with extreme care by successive governments, DRDO has still not been able to shake off the negative image associated with it. Most of its projects, ranging from Tejas light combat aircraft and long-range surface-to-air missile systems to NAG missiles are running years behind schedule.

According to officials, at least ten major projects that are being worked on by the DRDO have exceeded their stipulated date. “The major ones among these are the light combat aircraft, naval light combat aircraft, aero engine Kaveri, airborne early warning and control aircraft, long range surface-to-air missile, air-to-air missile Astra, advanced lightweight torpedo, dual colour missile approach warning system for fighter aircraft. If you include the minor ones, like the NAG missile system, then the number of incomplete projects will become even more,” the official stated.

According to a former bureaucrat, who had worked in the Ministry of Defence, the government has been always generous when it came to funding the DRDO. “The DRDO has never suffered from any paucity of funds. The main problem with the organisation is at the top. No accountability is fixed on them. There is no other place where you will find senior officials being given repeated extensions despite doing nothing.”

The former bureaucrat added that he had come across instances where the country’s defence preparedness suffered because the DRDO first made a commitment that it would manufacture the product, but when the deadline arrived, it did not have the product. And in cases where the product was there, the quality was not acceptable. “It is a shame that due to DRDO’s inefficiency the country has to import more than half of its defence requirements,” he said.

Even the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has time and again come down heavily on the DRDO. “Year after year, the CAG has revealed the kind of mismanagement that has been happening in the DRDO. In February this year, CAG audits revealed that the DRDO spent Rs 52 crore to buy a cooling substance, which was to be used in the NAG missile system in 2007. The interesting part is that the NAG was not operational at the time and it is still not operational. Can you expect such kind of mismanagement from any other defence organisation in the world elsewhere?” an official with the DRDO said.

According to him, the onus of revamping the DRDO is with the Defence Minister. “The DRDO officials and the defence ministry bureaucrats will not take the bull by the horn; no one wants to disturb the status quo. It is the Defence Minister who needs to do it. The minister needs to implement the recommendation of the first-ever external review report of the DRDO, which was prepared by an independent committee of experts headed by P. Rama Rao, former secretary, Department of Science & Technology, and former ISRO man Dr Brahm Prakash. It had recommended a massive restructuring of the 50-year-old body to make it more effective,” the official said.

However, Ravi Kumar Gupta, Director, Directorate of Public Interface, DRDO, said that the PM was very appreciative of the work being done by the organisation during his interaction with the officials last month. “He has positive views about the organisation and said that the organisation had a lot of potential and whatever we were doing, we were doing it in a professional way. He also said that just as it holds true for any other organisation, we too should not lose focus and follow the chalta hai attitude,” Gupta said.