Pay Comm to cover armed troops, DRDO: Antony

Bangalore, Dec 22: Defence Minister A K Antony today assured that the armed troops and the employees of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) will be covered by the Pay Commission.

Speaking after inaugurating the new campus for the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) here he said they needed special attention considering their situation vis a vis private sector. The government had already decided to look after their interests through a Pay Commission, he added.

Terming the role of DRDO as extremly crucial, he said it stood in the forefront and developed state-of-the-art equipment and made the defence forces increasingly self reliant through advanced weapon systems. However, the need of the hour was to develop innovative defence systems to meet challenges faced by the country, he felt.

Referring to the concern expressed in various quarters with regard to 'style of functioning' of DRDO, he said that time has come to look 'inward' to see whether the organisation was tuning itself adequately with changing times. The government was willing to invest appropriately and support Research and Development activities. It must be ensured that financial, human and technological resources were not frittered away. There was a need to think of ways and means to make the work culture more productive, professional and attractive, he exhorted.

Mr Antony, who went round the new campus earlier, observed that both CAIR and DRDO should work in tandem and share their expertise with other wings of armed forces. The development of futuristic communication systems should take into account the requirements of three wings of the armed forces, he felt.

He said that it was his firm belief that core function of upgrading communication systems in such crucial and sensitive domains should by and large, be handled by government agencies.

However, if old mindsets and traditional ways of functioning were not changed, there were other agencies waiting to occupy the vacuum left behing, he cautioned.

UNI