Dr Samir V Kamat's tenure as DRDO Chief extended for one year
Appointment
4 min read
The Appointment Committee of the Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister has approved an extension of one year for the Secretary of the Department of Defence, Research and Development and Chairman of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Dr Samir V Kamat.
Dr Samir Kamat was due to retire on 31 May 2024. His term has been extended till 31 May 2025.
The extension to Dr Kamat comes after the government, in an unusual move, gave a one-month extension to Army Chief Manoj Pande.
Perhaps the main reason for extending Dr Kamat's tenure is to ensure the continuity of the reform process being implemented in the DRDO.
Prof Raghavan Panel on restructuring DRDO
The government of India set up a nine-member panel headed by former principal scientific advisor Prof. K. Vijay Raghavan to revamp the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The panel, which submitted its report to the Prime Minister’s Office, suggested wide-ranging reforms to make the DRDO an efficient and agile institution, avoid delays in DRDO projects, evaluate projects and scientists, and maximise industry and academia participation in defence technologies.
The government of India has set a deadline of 31 August 2024 for the implementation of the Raghvan committee report.
For this purpose, the government of India has set up an Overseeing Committee headed by Dr Kamat and has two senior director generals of the DRDO.
To ensure the continuity in the reform process underway in DRDO, the government has extended the term of Dr Kamat by one year.
About Dr Samir Kamat
Dr Samir Kamat is a student of IIT Kharagpur and The Ohio State University, USA. In 1989, he joined the DRDO, and he was appointed as the chairman of DRDO on 25 August 2022. Whoever is the chairman of the DRDO is also the Secretary of the Department of Defence, Research and Development.\
He is a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from IIT Kharagpur, Metallurgist of the Year Award from the Ministry of Steel and Scientist of the Year Award from DRDO.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation was set up by the government of India in 1958 under the Union Ministry of Defence. DRDO is the premier defence research and development body which develops cutting-edge defence technology for the Indian armed forces.
