Minhaj Merchant's column: Professionals and technocrats should be given bigger responsibilities

The recent changes in ISRO and DRDO indicate a change in the government's approach. ISRO is sharing its technology and responsibilities with private sector companies – including startups. It will now focus on missions such as landing Indian astronauts on the moon, exploring Mars and setting up India's own space station by 2035. There are more than 440 startups associated with the space sector in India. At the same time, India's premier defense research organization DRDO is also moving forward on the model of ISRO. It will collaborate with private companies like L&T, Tata Advanced Systems, Mahindra Defence Systems and Bharat Forge to manufacture missiles, drones and air defense equipment. Private companies are already making tanks for the army and ships for the Navy. But sharing technology and resources by DRDO for complex defense systems will reduce India's dependence on foreign imports. These steps of both ISRO and DRDO are in the right direction. India has long depended on public sector undertakings like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for manufacturing fighter aircraft. This arrangement will continue, but the participation of private companies in setting up manufacturing facilities for a wide range of state-of-the-art defence projects will continue to increase. The Ministry of Defence has clarified that the objective is to enhance domestic manufacturing capabilities, strengthen the defence industrial base and create opportunities for participation of enterprises and other technology-partners in the supply chain. Apart from involving technically capable private companies in the defence and space sectors, the government should now consider even bolder reforms. In western countries, it is a popular tradition for corporate leaders to become ministers in the government and people associated with the government to go into the corporate sector. For example, former British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg became the vice-president of Mark Zuckerberg's company Meta after leaving the government. In contrast, former British Prime Minister David Cameron had worked in an executive position in the media company Carlton Communications before entering politics. In India too, Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani has worked in many government committees and was entrusted with the responsibility of 'Aadhaar'. At present, he is chairing a high-level expert committee formed to improve the system of NEET examinations. Nilekani could also prove to be a great minister. The same can be said about Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, whose tenure in the Tata Group is ending next year. But unfortunately, other factors of politics in India come in the way – region, caste, religion and ideology. However, some technocrats have been included in the Union Cabinet, such as S. Jaishankar and Ashwini Vaishnaw. Both of them are former bureaucrats. Jaishankar has come from the Indian Foreign Service, while Vaishnaw has proved to be an excellent minister. Both do not have any political constituency, but both have proved to be excellent ministers. In fact, Jaishankar had also worked with the Tata Group for some time after retiring from the IFS and before being included in the Union Cabinet. There are also historical precedents of such appointments. Jawaharlal Nehru's first Union Cabinet was full of technocrats. Economist, educationist and corporate officer of Tata Sons, Dr. John Mathai, was appointed by Nehru as the Minister of Railways and Transport and later he also became the Finance Minister. Economist and industrialist R.K. Shanmukham Chetty also held the Finance Ministry in the Nehru Cabinet. Renowned businessman and banking expert C.H. Bhabha served as the Commerce Minister. There will be a need for a change in thinking to include professionals in the cabinet. Take the example of former Mahindra Group CEO Pawan Goenka. His appointment as the head of IN-SPACe, the regulator of the space sector under the Department of Space, has been an undeniable success. Goenka has infused professional approach and new energy into India's space mission. (These are the author's own views)