NEW DELHI: During his first interaction with the scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Prime Minister Narendra Narendra Modi sent out a stern message: Shed the chalta hai attitude. Things, however, have plunged to a new low. At a conference last week, the DRDO asked a canteen boy to give a presentation on ‘border security’ because the scientists who were supposed to hold the session didn’t turn up.
There is more to the story. In the absence of experts, and to make up numbers, the premier research agency sent peons, drivers, mechanics, store keepers and other non-technical staff to attend the conference.
“We didn’t have suitable candidates to represent us, so some laboratories sent administrative and non-technical staff, including Class IV employees to fill in the chairs,” said a DRDO official. Quoting a senior official, an insider told The Sunday Standard, “I was told, ‘let them also enjoy and have a picnic.”
The conference, organised by DRDO’s Uttarakhand-based Defence Institute of Bio-energy Research, on the agency’s role in managing border security in the Himalayan region, was held on October 6-7. Six key labs were tasked to send their representatives.
The idea behind the conference, titled ‘Vaigyanik Evam Takniki Sanghoshti’, was to promote use of Hindi language. Sources claim since the venue was in Pithoragarh district, near the China border, many senior scientists expressed their unwillingness to travel 600 km in the hilly terrain, citing “health” or “personal” reasons.
The DRDO institutes, which sent their representatives, included Institute of Technology Management (Mussoorie), Defence Electronics Application Laboratory (Dehradun), Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (Chandigarh), Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (Chandigarh) and Defence Institute of Bio-energy Research (Haldwani).
DRDO has often faced criticism for its tardy performance, resulting in more than 70 per cent dependence of our armed forces on foreign players. Most of DRDO projects, from Tejas to long-range surface-to-air missile systems, have been missing repeated deadlines with huge cost overruns. DRDO spokesperson didn’t respond to repeated calls of this paper.