What is the status of the post of the Scientific Adviser to the Raksha Mantri (SA to RM) in the Union Ministry of Defence (MoD)?
The question is making the rounds in the scientific circles, especially the MoD since there is no word on the successor to Dr G Satheesh Reddy, who officially retired on June 30, on attaining the age of superannuation of 60.
The silence is leading to speculation that the post might be put on the back burner for some time. It comes in the wake of talk in some quarters of the Ministry about the prospect of bifurcating the post of Secretary, Defence (R&D) and Chairman, DRDO too.
Meanwhile the late August decision of the Union Minister of Defence, Rajnath Singh to constitute a nine-member Committee of experts to examine an overhaul of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has raised a fresh debate. The Committee is being chaired by Dr S Vijay Raghavan, former, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Union Government. It has been given three months to submit its report.
It may be recalled that Dr Reddy was first nominated as the SA to RM on June 4, 2015, when the then Defence Minister in the first term of the Modi Government, Manohar Parrikar decided to, separate the SA to RM from the tri-position of Secretary, Defence (R&D), Director General, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The three posts were held at that time by Dr Avinash Chander. Incidentally, Dr Avinash Chander, who was on an extension was clipped of his tenure in a controversial decision in 2015. The MoD then appointed Dr S Christopher as the Secretary, Defence (R&D) & DG, DRDO and Dr Satheesh Reddy as the SA to RM.
The Split of Posts
The decision taken by Manohar Parrikar was viewed in the light of efforts to bring in clarity of defining the roles of the Secretary, Defence (R&D), DG, DRDO (which had about 50 national institutes of key research under it), an executive position and the SA to RM (Defence Ministry) in view of the growing significance and strategic role of defence for the country.
The DG, DRDO post, which was of the rank of a Secretary, was vested with the executive powers. On the other hand, the SA post was meant to be more of an adviser role to the Defence Minister on strategic technologies, mission projects, support on technology trends and formulating a vision.
But, strangely it did not seem to have been the case or perhaps the SA role redefined as the developments that took place in 2018 are any indication. Dr Christopher, retired after his three-year term ended in mid 2018. Somewhere during his tenure, the DG, DRDO position was converted to Chairman.
Consequently, the Union Cabinet Committee on Appointments announced the appointment of Dr G Satheesh Reddy as the Chairman, DRDO on August 28, 2018. There was no mention of the position of SA and whether Dr Reddy would hold that position too, in the official communiqué.
In August 2022, the Union Government appointed Dr. Samir V Kamat as Secretary, Defence (R&D) and Chairman Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). He took over on August 26. Simultaneously, Dr Reddy was made the SA to RM.
An interesting point is, Dr Reddy was 59 and had just a year of service left. Normally, an extension till superannuation was expected in the same post as per defence experts. However, the Government decided to send back Dr Reddy to his original post of SA to RM of 2015.
A history of SA to RM
The DRDO, formed in 1958 has about 42 national Institutions across the country and over 5000 scientists working with an annual budget of about Rs 20,000 crore. The post of Scientific Advisor was created way back in 1948 by Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru by inviting eminent scientist-academician, Dr D S Kothari.
The role was purely to advise the PM and government about defence technologies, the needs of the defence forces and strategic affairs. As the demands of the defence sector grew and need for indigenous technology became critical, the DRDO expanded fast, especially under Dr Suri Bhagavantham, who succeeded Dr Kothari in 1961 and held the post of SA to RM and DG, DRDO positions till 1969.
The position came into higher limelight in 1980s, when Indira Gandhi returned to power. Dr Raja Ramanna, one of the architects of the Pokhran 1974, expressed the view that the position of the DRDO had to be upgraded to a Secretary rank, which the PM accepted. He had tenure of four years between 1978 and 82, when V S Arunachalam, succeeded him. Incidentally, Arunachalam who passed away recently, brought lot of national projects like the Integrated Missile Development, Light Combat Aircraft during his decade long term. It was followed up with the powerful APJ Abdul Kalam.
Thereafter, it has been a tradition that the DRDO chief held all the positions of SA to RM, DG, DRDO and Secretary, Defence (R&D). Former President, APJ Abdul Kalam, Dr V K Aatre, Dr M Natarajan, Dr V K Saraswat and Dr Avinash Chander having held the tri-positions till January 2015.
Is restructuring of DRDO happening?
The decision by the Union Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh to set up a 9-member, expert committee to examine the DRDO affairs has given impetus to the prospects of restructuring in the near future. The committee of experts under Prof K Vijay Raghavan, one of the key architects of the National Research Foundation, recently passed by the Parliament, will review and redefine the role of the DRDO and submit a report within three months.
The Modi government’s decision to review the functioning of the DRDO and the entire defence research and production eco-system has been much in the offing for some time. In the first term itself, the PM had expressed concern about delays, low accountability and missing targets in the DRDO laboratories which were functioning on the public sector model.
The committee is expected to examine: Restructuring and redefining the role of Department of Defence (R &D) and DRDO, as well as their relationship with each other and with academia and industry; Maximise academia, MSME, and start-up participation in the development of cutting edge technologies; Attract and retain high-quality manpower; Utilize the expertise of NRIs/foreign consultants, inter-country collaborations for development of cutting edge and disruptive defence technologies etc.
With over 42 national laboratories spread across the country, the Defence Ministry’s huge procurement, AtmaNirbhar programme, growing international strategic alliances, Defence purchases and exports too, the time for a well thought out restructuring and long term role for the DRDO is a need.
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