More quit DRDO than join, applications fall by 70% in three years
Tucked away in a representation made to the Sixth Central Pay Commission by the Defence Research and Development Organisation are startling new figures that confirm how DRDO is not only unable to retain talent — it’s also not being able to attract it.
Records obtained by The Indian Express show that last year, the latest for which data is available, the number of scientists who resigned from the organization touched an all-time high of 321. Most of them were young scientists from the electronics and computer disciplines. While several factors have been cited, a majority of the scientists who have resigned attribute it to better career opportunities elsewhere and lack of professional challenge.
In fact, 2006 is the first year that the number of resignations at DRDO has surpassed the number of inductions, 300. In other words, induction is not keeping pace with attrition resulting in a significant shortfall of trained scientists.
This isn’t surprising given the steady fall in the number of applications to what is considered the government’s premier defence research institution — in 2003, while total applicants numbered 110,224, in 2006, that figure came down to less than a third of that: 31,810.
The DRDO’s representation to the Pay Commission underlines the need to build an efficient and talented pool of scientists dedicated for a minimum of 15 to 20 years considering the long gestation period for developing defence-warfare systems. Advocating more “freedom, flexibility and opportunities for self-development” to scientists, the proposal calls for rewards of recognition.
Towards this, the DRDO has proposed an entry-level scale of Rs 48,000-120,000 per month — almost six times the current level of Rs 8000-13000, going upto Rs 500,000 (fixed) per month at the highest level, advisor to the Defence Minister.
Besides this, other demands include sabbatical, intellectual capital pay, loyalty bonus and 40% share of royalty/fees earned due to commercialization of inventions and rewards.