New clear policy

In emerging societies the glorified enterprise of 8216;national8217; science has not been amenable to sustained political control. As the Department of Atomic Energy DAE continues to defy larger national strategic goals in implementing the Indo-US nuclear pact, the time has come for the prime minister to impose some discipline in the short term, and a radical overhaul over the longer term. Nearly two decades ago, then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had confronted this problem when appointing a successor to Raja Ramanna. The principle he recognised 8212; political leadership must prevail over the individual fancies of any department 8212; should now guide Manmohan Singh.

For far too long have the DAE8217;s goals, budgets and organisational efficiency gone unquestioned by the political leadership. Take, for example, the separation of civilian and military programmes, which is at the heart of the Indo-US pact. If India wants to build a large scale nuclear programme to meet the nation8217;s growing power needs, it needs to quickly implement the nuclear pact. Notwithstanding the allegations that Washington has moved the goal posts, India should have separated DAE8217;s civilian and military activities long ago, in its own interest. No other country with a serious nuclear weapons programme has embedded it in a civilian venture as the DAE has done. It is much simpler to run the weapons programme with dedicated plutonium production reactors and military reprocessing plants. Instead of building this islanded capacity, the DAE has got into the habit of cheating on the civilian nuclear programme for the nation8217;s military needs. As a consequence, effectiveness on both fronts has suffered.

To make the DAE more accountable, the government must withdraw the monopoly rights given to it under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. In the mid-8217;50s, nuclear research was in its nascence. Most advanced nations have since privatised large components of their civilian nuclear programmes. The DAE should be compelled to focus on cutting edge research in frontier areas. To let one department run the full spectrum of activities, from uranium mining to high energy laser development, makes no sense. To get a bigger bang for the buck for the massive resources that India spends on the DAE, the prime minister must order a comprehensive review of its functioning.