Bengaluru: Almost five years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to involve youth in defence research related activities in a ‘big way,’ there seems to be finally some action on the front.
Military sources confirmed to Onmanorama on Monday that Modi will formally inaugurate five new laboratories remotely from Bengaluru on January 2, which will be under the command of youngsters under the age of 35 years. Called as the DRDO Young Scientists Labs (DYSLs), these new establishments will be spread across five cities in India.
The new initiative will take off from Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a DRDO arm that primarily looks into unmanned aerial systems, situated at New Thippsandhara, a hub of aerospace activities.
Key Areas
DRDO is said to have built the template of these new five labs based on the same lines as what the PM desired in 2014.
“The objective of these labs will be to empower young and outstanding scientific minds to develop national capabilities in key technology areas in defence,” an official said.
While DRDO officially refused to share any details of the event, sources say that the new labs have been set up keeping in mind future technologies that could be addressed by young and innovative minds.
Among the new 5 labs are: Artificial Intelligence (Bengaluru); Quantum Technologies (IIT Mumbai); Cognitive Technologies (IIT Chennai); Asymmetric Technologies (Kolkata) and Smart Materials (Hyderabad).
“These labs have been created to encourage innovation through empowerment of young leadership of DRDO,” says an official.
All scientists including the Directors selected for DYSLs are said to be below 35 years of age. The Directors have been selected by a committee chaired by Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India.
When asked about the powers young Directors will exercise, the official said they will hold the same financial and administrative rights as compared to Directors of other DRDO labs.“Apex committees chaired by eminent academicians have been formed to guide the DYSLs on technical aspects,” the official added.
Speech effect
It was on August 24, 2014, while giving away the DRDO awards in Delhi, the PM suggested that at least five labs should be identified exclusively for innovation from young scientists up to the age of 35 years.
With the DRDO being in the firing line for project delays, failures and cost overruns often, the PM wanted to speedup up defence programmes.
“The PM wanted DRDO to keep pace with the world, where technology has become the key driver of defence products. He had then asked DRDO to visualize, anticipate, and eventually set the agenda for the global defence community, which was a tough ask,” says a Ministry of Defence official.
Sources say the PM’s idea found some impetus in 2018 and the DRDO was finally ready in 2019 March to launch the new labs.
“The general elections came in between and launch was delayed,” says an official.
The first official word on the five labs came out in October 2019 when Principal Secretary to Prime Minister P K Mishra gave a glimpse of DRDO’s plans.
To a query if the new system would create any hierarchy rift within DRDO, the official claimed that it has been running smoothly so far.
(The writer is an independent aerospace and defence journalist, who blogs at Tarmak007 and tweets @writetake.)
