20 top scientists quit Indian DRDO

BANGALORE:In a severe blow to the already shrinking number of researchers in defence laboratories across India, 20 top scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) have quit their jobs in the last six months.With the economy looking up and IT sector beginning to hire in a big way, defence scientists are opting for better opportunities. Scientists working in the field of computer science, electronics and communications are the most sought after by the private sector, as per DRDO records.Vijaykumar Saraswath, scientific adviser to defence minister A K Antony, said on Friday: “In the last six months, I have signed about 20 resignations of top scientists. We are losing scientists from our labs and IT sector is picking them up. There were no such en masse resignations in the last two years.”To retain the bright scientists, he said “we need to have good HR policies, which are now in place,” he added.In 2008, when 285 scientists had resigned over the span of three years, defence minister A K Antony had promised incentives to arrest the attrition rate in DRDO. The proposed incentives included providing career enhancement opportunities to scientists by granting them study leaves – Dailymailnews