×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Parrikar says he wanted DRDO chief sacked

Last Updated 14 January 2015, 20:33 IST

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday revealed that he recommended the removal of missile scientist Avinash Chander as head of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), so that someone younger could take over.

Parrikar suggested that it was inappropriate for someone in the post of DRDO chief to be on contract.

“I had recommended that this position should not be held by a person on contract. We should introduce into the scientific world...a slightly younger generation. People in these senior positions should not be on contract,” the defence minister said here.

In a surprising move, the government on Tuesday relieved Chander—the main architect of the Agni missile programme—from his duties as DRDO director, secretary of the department of defence research and scientific adviser to Parrikar.

Despite growing speculation about Chander’s possible successors, the defence minister did not reveal who would now become DRDO chief, but said the next senior-most person would hold the post temporarily.

“There are so many eligible people. Someone among them should be brought. We will find someone good from the DRDO, who has the urge for development,” Parrikar said.

Interestingly, the defence minister said he received the news of Chander’s removal from the media, even though he recommended it.

The Narendra Modi government had appointed Chander on contract just one and a half months ago, on November 28, after he superannuated at the age of 64.

He was to continue as DRDO chief with the same perks and authority till May 31, 2016, presumably with the approval of Parrikar who took over as defence minister on November 10.

When Chander took over as DRDO director on June 1, 2013, he was appointed for a period of three years, which went over his retirement date of November 30, 2014.

For this reason, the government decided that he would be on a contract basis for 18 months, according to a press statement from the Defence Ministry in November.

As the chief architect of the Agni missiles, Chander led the successful development and testing of intercontinental range ballistic missiles which can travel about 5,000 km.

In August last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reprimanded the DRDO for having a laid back attitude and repeated failures to deliver on time. He also asked the organisation to bring young scientists as leaders.

The two youngest directors of the DRDO laboratories are 50 years of age: K Ramachandran, who heads the Defence Institute of Psychological Research, Delhi, and Satish Reddy of Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad.
DH News Service

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 14 January 2015, 20:33 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT