Amidst a series of significant changes in the defence sector, the government has extended the tenure of Chief of Army Staff Gen Manoj Pande by one month. In a similar vein, the DRDO has announced a one-year extension for Samir V Kamat as Secretary of the Department of Defence R&D and DRDO Chairman. This decision, made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), is part of a larger restructuring effort within the organisation based on the recommendations of a high-powered expert committee.
Kamat, who earlier held the position of Director General of Naval Systems and Materials, one of the seven technology clusters in DRDO, was appointed to the top post in August 2022 and was set to retire at the end of this month.
Kamat’s predecessor, Satheesh Reddy, who took over as DRDO Chief in 2018, was also given a two-year extension. While he was to retire in August 2020, he held the post till August 2022 and was then appointed the Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister.
The decision to extend his tenure follows the establishment of an “overseeing committee” tasked with reviewing and ensuring the prompt implementation of the nine-member expert committee’s recommendations. This expert committee, led by former Principal Scientific Advisor to the central government K Vijay Raghavan, submitted its report in January of this year.
There has been some opposition to a few reforms suggested by the committee, which has called for a major structural revamp of DRDO. The committee has recommended that the R&D monolith should concentrate only on ‘fundamental and applied R&D’, leaving systems integration and product management to other agencies and the private sector. DRDO should, as per the committee, restructure its 41 laboratories into 10 national labs to improve functional synergy and efficiency, a committee member disclosed.
“Today, the private sector is quite capable of integrating systems. So DRDO can easily step back now, focus on technology development, and leave product development to the industry,” Lt Gen Subrata Saha (retd), a Member of the overseeing committee, said in an interview with BharatShakti recently.
Gen Saha underscored the urgent need for DRDO’s evolution to keep pace with the rapidly changing demands of India’s defence landscape. “DRDO has to reform itself and move with the times,” he emphasised, signalling a pivotal moment for the organisation’s trajectory.
He also emphasises the need for a robust Defence Technology Council to delineate project responsibilities between DRDO and the private sector, fostering a collaborative environment conducive to innovation and efficiency. Dispelling speculations about DRDO’s dismantlement, Gen Saha asserted DRDO’s crucial role in fostering self-reliance in defence technology and production.
Ravi Shankar
