NEW DELHI: Govt on Monday extended tenure of Samir V Kamat as secretary of department of defence R&D & DRDO chairman till May 31 next year, amid the move to overhaul the organisation based on recommendations of a high-powered expert committee.
Kamat, who was earlier director general of naval systems & materials, one of the seven technology clusters in DRDO, was appointed to the top post in Aug 2022 and was slated to retire this month-end.
The extension comes after an ‘overseeing committee’ was earlier set up to review and ensure time-bound implementation of the recommendations of the nine-member expert committee, headed by former principal scientific advisor to govt, K Vijay Raghavan, which submitted its report in Jan.
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 DRDO should concentrate only on ‘fundamental & 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 labs into 10 national labs to improve functional synergy and efficiency, an official said. TNN
Kamat, who was earlier director general of naval systems & materials, one of the seven technology clusters in DRDO, was appointed to the top post in Aug 2022 and was slated to retire this month-end.
The extension comes after an ‘overseeing committee’ was earlier set up to review and ensure time-bound implementation of the recommendations of the nine-member expert committee, headed by former principal scientific advisor to govt, K Vijay Raghavan, which submitted its report in Jan.
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 DRDO should concentrate only on ‘fundamental & 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 labs into 10 national labs to improve functional synergy and efficiency, an official said. TNN
