The Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) at Mysore — which makes ready-to-eat packaged food for the armed forces — is likely to be one of the DRDO laboratories that could be hived off from the DRDO and merged
with the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Many in the DRDO are unhappy at this likely move by the Government. While sources in the DRDO said the DFRL is likely to be merged with the CSIR, the ministry of defence has, so far, refused to comment on which of the labs will be merged.
The DFRL, founded in 1961 as part of the DRDO, has been “designing and engineering light-weight, convenient pack rations for the Army, Air Force, Navy and paramilitary forces”. These pack rations “do not require any elaborate cooking or preparation at the consumer’s end and remain shelf-stable under varying climatic conditions for a period ranging from six months to one year ...”. The ready-to-eat packaged food has essentially been of help to soldiers stationed at high-altitudes like the Siachen glacier since it provided them with the adequate nutrition to maintain high-energy levels. The DFRL is one of the life-science laboratories of the DRDO which will be hived off from the organisation since the Government felt the DRDO should focus on its core strategic areas that includes the timely development of modern weapon technologies.
Predictably, there are many in the DRDO who are unhappy with the government’s move. “The DFRL was a laboratory in which the DRDO invested so much. It has been of immense help to the armed forces, so much so that even private food industries have availed of technology developed by the DFRL. The possibility of giving away such an organisation on a platter to another organisation is indeed heart-breaking,” said one DRDO source. However, the DRDO is reconciled to following government orders. “If the DFRL is merged with the CSIR, a new MoU may need to be signed between the CSIR and the MoD to provide the pack rations to the armed forces,” said a source.
The government had announced sweeping measures on Thursday to make the DRDO “a leaner organisation by merging some of the DRDO laboratories with other public funded institutions with similar discipline, interest and administrative system”. There are a total of 52 DRDO laboratories in the country that deal with various aspects such as aeronautics, naval systems, missile systems. armaments and combat vehicles, electronics, life sciences and materials.