Justifying the sudden sacking of DRDO chief Dr. Avinash Chander, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said here on Wednesday that he had recommended Dr. Chander’s removal as he felt that the position should be held by someone from a younger generation.
In his first comments a day after Dr. Chander's removal, the Defence Minister said the decision to go for replacement of the Defence, Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief was not controversial.
The Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday night approved the “termination” of Dr. Chander’s contract from January 31. It would have otherwise ended in May 2016.
“I had recommended that this position should not be held by a person on contract. We should introduce in the scientific world, slightly younger generation,” he told reporters outside the North Block. “There are so many eligible persons, (someone) should be brought from among them,” he said.
On who the next DRDO Chief would be, he said the senior-most person of cluster heads will hold the post temporarily. “We will find out someone good from the DRDO, who has the urge for development,” he added.
