Become nimble, refocus on R&D and be on your toes: Sitharaman to DRDO

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asked the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) to "introspect" and energise its research and development initiatives.

Launching Mission 'Raksha Gyan Shakti', an initiative that encourages scientists and technicians to register their intellectual property, she said: "DRDO should become nimble. Refocus on R&D and be on your toes."

She urged the Ministry officials to use their "imagination" to translate these innovations into success stories for the defence industry and fulfillment of defence needs by taking them to "logical conclusion".

She said innovations should not be allowed to slide into oblivion, slackened by a sense of satisfaction just by achieving numbers in registering IPR.

Mission 'Raksha Gyan Shakti' focuses on training officials in IPR (intellectual property rights) registrations and encouraging IPR culture in defence as a lesson from the past where in spite of great technological contributions to the industry, due credit was not given to the innovators.

She also asked the Ministry hierarchy to break traditional barriers to innovations in the defence sector by bringing in transparency and bridging the existing gaps.