Dissent Overruled: Revamp of #DRDO in Progress | #defence #research #msme #india #government

Hope DRDO doesn't become a den of babudom

Rip modi

Now babus will give instructions what to do.

now DRDO people will vote against Modi in 2029 now 😂... people want change but don't like going through change pain ...

Giving the management of DRDO to IAS is just destroying the organization. They will spread the corruption like other institutions

There are many communist unions inside DRDOs and PSUs. Modi will lose all their votes if the DRDO reforms are done. They have already lost major section of farmer and rural youngsters votes with their Agniveer and Farm laws!

Wonderful insights and vision elucidated by Dr Guruprasad.

Very insightful discussion.

DRDO can be a Vibrant Organisation. It has all that is required to make India ATMANIRBHAR, and now under PMO, it might as well start contributing towards manufacturing State of the Art Military Equipment. Kill Complacency. Just be Professional. DRDO has in it, PMO hopefully should act as a Catalyst. All projects should be Time Bound. Jai Hind

A very progressive move. I hope now the DRDO will work fast and provide new innovations to the country in a time bound manner

Please do accept students without gate

It is high time that these govt. R&D organizations are made more accountable in their deliverance to public money. It does not matter whether the govt. Scientists would vote for or against the government. Secondly, the public should be made known about what is happening behind the screen, and what are the truly delivered promises, vis a vis the projected ones.

But having said this much, the govt. must also share its own share of faulty administration: -encouraging misgovernance, too much stifling from the accounts people, aged and development unfriendly purchase procedures, nontransparent non objective evaluation and promotional norms.

Active disconnect of on-going R&D with the field requirements, absence of fruitful cross flow of knowledge among various parallel or supplementing efforts. It is actually a myriad of reasons that contributed to the increasing irrelevance of drdo behemoth.

Bring in true accountability from all quarters, including the govt.
No point in going blindly by the judgements of foreign FRS and members of elite self scratching Indian academia. Hardly any of them have designed a steel pin, most of them paper tigers. In bringing changes, involve all and only true stakeholders.
Then the changes suggested can be implemented to see some fruits.

In any case, it is a long overdue excercise. If done in all seriousness, the country would benefit, no matter who murmurs and where.

God bless DRDO. Nurtured properly, it has still some potential.

Very interesting and insightful discussion..Reforms are must special wide Chasm between User n Research or developers..We are moving in right direction

DRDO must be removed entirely from the MoD, integrated into a maharatna PSU maharat a as a R&D vertical , like BHEL, BEML, BDL. Otherwise erect it as a stand-alone defence lab that can bid for govt and private contracts , float its shares and disinvest in it

No change can happen if you show miser mentality and NOT pay properly for the work. You can go wherever, IIT to MIT, but if you cannot pay properly, no one will waste their time with you.
Patriotism is not a proxy for remuneration.

Poisionous wepons against what ? Bad human view, King's human" will doo ? Trapping abbility of opposisons are and success of motive Based ? Is callings Terrorist or frome redimade to new what ?

A very thought provoking discussion by Dr Guruprasad who explains the Indian environment for R&D. It is very necessary for people to understand the real issues and problems surrounding Defence R&D in India.

nice one

1)Bramhos Range should be 5000/6000 km with hypersonic Speed,
2) Development of Kinzel missile technology like Russia is Key!!! No work or even though
3) Lazer WEPONS capacity and engaging multiple targets way behind USA!!!
4) China has Multiple fleat of Agressive Bombers attack Plains ! We are just dependent on low missile Offensive Capabilities,!!! Quantity/Quality,/ Carring Capacity All platforms & Parameters Offensive Capabilities of China crosses USA !!! Special Rocked force they mastered !!!
5) we are sleeping on offensive, Bombers & missile technology !!!
6)Water Drons of Ukraine killed One of Biggest attack Navel ship of Russia , China atmanirbhar in Dreon technology !!!
7) DRDO/ ISRO / HAL, Defence PSU Shoud only focus on R& D only And transfer Atmanirbhar technology to private, sector & Bulk production PSU unit
8) Honey Trap 🍯🍯🍯🍯 Trap Network must be part of carriculim & day to day life in 3 wings of defense force ,R& D centre, central government and state government , cantonment board, Air base!!!!
9) 6Th generation Cyber & narrative War From China, pakistan ispr ISI agent, please don't gat trapped , there should be proper cross check,& procidues in working , double agent, system or any special unit for testing this militery, Reserch secrets keeping safe needed !!!! Honey 🍯🍯 Trap Network must be Killed !!!

Valid point by Dr Guruprasad that hand holding from top will definitely drive decision making faster. But two thing I disagree with:
1. Cost and time overruns: I don’t think we should say out loud that time and cost overruns not happening shows no innovations made. Development and deployment needs to be faster. Understood that industry pace can’t be matched, but goal must be to avoid time overruns and minimize cost overruns. Agility is key especially when indigenous development needs to take front seat.

2. Lifelong expertise development: personally DRDO should hire more PhDs for specialized developed and a combination of Mtech and Btech folks can drive the speed culture. Maybe a five year bond sort of approach could be tried. ISRO has it (maybe still does) in coordination with IIST so that people don’t leave in an year or two.

3. Inefficient labs needs to be either shutdown or the lab management needs to be replaced by a combination experienced and young team. I remember from my personal experience at GTTE interview which was supposedly developing India’s first gas turbine engine (Kaveri) and turned out to be big failure. Some land had a culture, where 12 pm lunch , 4 pm tea and then 5 leave for home.

Hoping changes from the PMO will drive better execution, agility and development cycles for the defense forces.

Most IIT should include in it's curriculum about importance of talented student working for countries . If you do not educated student , how can you call that their priorities are not serving country .

Conflict of Interest
The primary role of the Secretary of Defense is to manage the administrative and strategic aspects of national defense. Adding the responsibility of heading DRDO, which focuses on research and development in defense technologies, could lead to conflicts of interest. The dual role may cause prioritization issues, where the Secretary might favor certain projects or policies that align more closely with immediate defense needs rather than the long-term research goals of the DRDO.

2. Overextension
The Secretary of Defense already has a demanding role, overseeing defense policies, military budgets, and coordination with armed forces. Adding the responsibility of managing a complex and specialized organization like DRDO could lead to overextension, where neither role receives the full attention and expertise it requires. This could result in inefficiencies and a potential decline in the effectiveness of both the department and DRDO.

3. Lack of Technical Expertise
The role of DRDO's head requires a deep understanding of scientific research, technological development, and innovation. While the Secretary of Defense may have extensive experience in defense administration, they may lack the technical expertise needed to effectively lead a research and development organization. This mismatch can hinder the progress of DRDO’s projects and its mission to develop cutting-edge defense technologies.

4. Bureaucratic Inefficiencies
Integrating the leadership of DRDO into the administrative framework of the defense department could introduce additional bureaucratic layers, slowing down decision-making processes. DRDO's projects often require quick and decisive action to stay ahead in technological advancements, and bureaucratic delays could compromise the organization's agility and responsiveness.

5. Politicization of Research
If the Secretary of Defense heads DRDO, there is a risk of politicizing the organization’s research agenda. Scientific research and development should ideally be driven by technical merit and strategic necessity rather than administrative considerations. Administrative oversight might lead to prioritizing projects that align with bureaucratic goals rather than those that are technologically sound or strategically important.

6. Resource Allocation
The dual role might affect the fair allocation of resources. The Secretary of Defense might allocate more resources to initiatives that align with immediate defense needs, potentially neglecting long-term research projects essential for future defense capabilities. This could undermine the strategic planning and long-term goals of DRDO.

7. Accountability and Governance
Effective governance requires clear lines of accountability. Having the same person head both the Department of Defense and DRDO can blur these lines, making it difficult to hold the leadership accountable for specific outcomes. This could lead to a lack of transparency and reduced organizational accountability.


This dude is merely trying to polish his superiors for political favours and ironically, highlights a major issue in indan managerial systems0despiute the topic being about restructuring the DRDO
. his answer is laughable,perhaps he himself sohuld be released

We all know that DRDO is good for nothing but abusing government funds and developing chutiya type of remote control boats. Corruption and ordering chai and pakoras are their main skill set..

the only way India can ever improvise in weapons is to privatize it.

DRDO scientific bureaucrats have been fooling us for long. It needs to be disbanded. Babus interned to andaman.

Drdo is masters in bluffing.

Dr Guruprasad was my Deptt Head at DRDO , I left DRDO in year 2007 as Scientist " C" , I have full of respect to Dr Guruprasad for his devotion and hard work.. today I am at Managing Director position in medical device industry field in developed country... DRDO Need to learn from developed country to deliver the weapon on time, North Korea is underdeveloped country but still doing well in delivering missile weapon in time. ( North Korea and India both imports missile technology from Russia )...DRDO have many talents but have many many problems and that need to be solved. properly...Just restructuring will not solve all the problems..