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DRDO chief pitches for self-reliance

NEW DELHI: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief M. Natarajan on Monday called for special measures to reduce the dependence of the armed forces on imported tactical equipment as the trend was affecting his organisation’s endeavour in this direction.

Dr. Natarajan backed his demand by quoting from the recommendations of a committee set up to examine the DRDO’s functioning.

“The committee has observed that the DRDO’s role in providing tactical systems is not significant as it is being marginalised by the procurement process. The committee is of the strong view that only if the need for self-reliance is legislated, the contributions of DRDO can become wholesome,” he said.

Speaking at DRDO’s golden jubilee function here, the country’s top ranking defence scientist made several suggestions to bring India on a par with developed countries in the area of defence platforms.

Dr. Natarajan also indicated his unhappiness over the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations.

Pointing out that “scientific temper, while being lured by technology challenges is not immune to the world outside,” he said the Commission had not come up to his expectation.

He wanted special packages to attract and retain scientific and technical skills, as equating research labs with other administrative organisations “will not be fair.”

On the country not being able to cater to its defence requirements, he felt the fundamental problem lay in the fact that the defence industry feeling comfortable with licensed production, than taking the painstaking route of indigenous development.

Terming 2007 as one of successful year for strategic systems, Dr. Natarajan recounted the Agni tests, the special missile for the Navy and the interceptor missile as some of the achievements that “heralded” India’s entry into the elite club of technologically advanced countries.

While there were significant achievements in almost all disciplines, DRDO faced capacity constraints. To counter this, it had sought the involvement of small and medium enterprises.

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