Letter to Sh A.K Antony

As the honorable Defence Minister of India, this is your second successive tenure. The first one had limitation of weak government, as the number was not adequate and the survival of the government itself was always in doubt. As a result your Ministry did not commit ACCOUNTABILITY in R&D organization which is an important factor. In the new government, a strong majority prevails and therefore it is expected that you will discharge your duties as expected by the common citizen/tax payer of India.

As the Defence Minister, Late Sh. Viswanath Partap Singh adjudged DRDO scientist and manpower as social commitment, at the 1986 Directors' conference at Bangalore. The obvious reason was that products developed by DRDO were Nil.. Today, even after 23 years, the output of DRDO remain Nil and it has not delivered a single item, 100% indigenous, due to following reason :-

1. There is no accountability in DRDO.

2. DRDO consumes a major share of the Defence budget but it has failed to deliver a single indigenous product useful for Indian Defence forces. Some defence officers raise their voices, but it is not heeded by the authority..

3. In the name of technology development DRDO rely on the import of current technology ( normally declared obsolete by Russia,USA, Israel, France etc)

4. The imported items are shown/demonstrated to users (ARMY/Navy/Air force). When it comes to mass development the actual fight begins between PSU's and DRDO. It is because DRDO does not know the inherent property and fails to prepare proper TOT as required.

5. DRDO directors are bluff-masters. They act as if DRDO Labs are autonomous bodies. They have been trained by their predecessors to bluff and simply bluff. The Minister normally does not ask technical questions as a result DRDO has become a bluff-masters' paradise.

6. The knowledge/higher degree is an optional requirement. DRDO rely on fresh B.Tech engineers and groom them  to continue  the bluff. If they disagree then they are forced to reign. See the number of DRDO scientists who've resigned in past 25 years.

Sir, will you please look into the grievances of the poor tax payers. Can you ask SA to RM to count in fingers what products DRDO has given so far and must judge in the light of North Korea's and China's capabilities.
You are working on P Rama Rao committee which intends to ameliorate DRDO, but through news we know that the bluff-masters of DRDO have already succeeded in diluting the action.