Manohar Parrikar justifies sacking, says younger man must lead DRDO

A day after Avinash Chander was sacked as chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said Wednesday that he recommended the removal and that the organization should be headed by a younger person.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the termination of Chander's contract with effect from Jan 31, 15 months ahead of schedule. Chander, 64, retired Nov 30 but was given a contract for 18 months till May 31, 2016 as head of DRDO.

"I recommended that a person on contract should not be occupying such a senior position. This senior position should be filled by other eligible senior persons. There is no controversy here," Parrikar said.

"I believe DRDO should be headed by a younger man... I had proposed for his removal and they have agreed to it."

Government sources said nuclear scientist Sekhar Basu was likely to be named the new DRDO chief.

Basu, who heads the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, was behind the nuclear system that is driving the Arihant-class submarines of the Indian Navy.

A search panel headed by the cabinet secretary will pick Chander's replacement from among top DRDO scientists.

Chander's sack notification was put up on the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) web site Tuesday but removed later.

DRDO officials said they did not receive any official information on Chander's removal.

Chander is widely known as the man behind the Agni series of missiles.

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Manohar Parrikar justifies sacking, says younger man must lead DRDO