And this is what India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation built.
Humour
Here’s How India Spends Its Defence Funds:
An Actual Top-Secret Indian Defence Project Costing US$ 1 Million
PRADIP R. SAGAR
New Delhi, India
You will be surprised to know where India’s premier governmental defence research organisation has been spending its time and resources.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which has the onerous responsibility of developing state-of-the-art arms and ammunition systems for the Indian armed forces, has recently spent over Rs 50 million (that’s almost a million US Dollars) of its funds, and its energies, in developing a chariot.
Yes, you heard it right: a chariot (see photo).
It is not an ordinary chariot.
To be fair to DRDO, we must confess that the chariot that it so painstakingly built over a period of one year has used copious amounts of silver (which explains its cost) and has all the embellishments you should expect from a chariot made as a replica of a mythical rath from the ancient Vedic times ... if you let your imagination go wild and get the better of you.
DRDO developed this ‘hi-tech’ chariot and ‘donated’ it to Alandi Temple in June after a bullock -- according to Director of Research and Development Establishment (Engineers) or R&DE, Pune, Dr S Guru Prasad himself -- was killed during the 21-day annual palki yatra (religious pilgrimage) to Pandharpur last year.
Yes, you heard it right: a bullock. Not Sandra Bullock, but a young, four-legged bull, vis-a-vis a Hindu ‘holy cow’.
And a ‘hi-tech chariot‘? Well, this one still has to be pulled by bullocks. Lots of them because, remember, it‘s made of silver.
Dr Prasad has confirmed that the chariot was indeed built by the laboratory which he heads, to atone for the holy Hindu animal‘s untimely death.
[Is it possible that the Hindu gods and goddesses were sending a message to India’s Defence Department? But, no, we won’t go there, will we …]
The story of this mind-boggling decision by an organisation which is supposed to serve the cause of science, and not religion, does not end here.
A senior scientist, who rebelled against this ‘absurd’ venture and filed a complaint with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), had to pay for it. The DRDO has not only stripped him off his ongoing projects, but also transferred him out of the Pune centre to a post where he has been left to waste.
The scientist in his petition stated that since he filed the complaint under the whistleblower policy of the CVC, the identity of the complainant should have been kept confidential. The petitioner also stated that “the CVC is to ensure that no punitive action is taken by any concerned administrative authority against any person on perceived reason/ suspicion of being ‘whistleblower’.”
But “since filing the complaint, the conduct of higher officials, especially the alleged officials, totally changed and they started harassing him by removing him from all important projects and took away his project credits on which he was working since long,” said the petition, adding that even the scientist was removed from Combat Engineering Group and put on to Electro Mechanical Systems Group (Missile Launcher Group) wherein he had not relevant expertise. Subsequently, he was transferred out from R&DE (Engineers), Pune to a unit in Nasik.
The Bombay High Court, taking cognizance of the scientist’s petition, issued notices to the DRDO chief, Defence Secretary and the CVC on November 14, 2014 asking them to respond before December 17 this year.
The scientist has alleged that the director of R&DE has utilised around Rs 25 million of government funds to develop the chariot. He claimed that the cost goes beyond Rs 50 million based on the manpower expended on it by diverting the institution’s personnel to the frolic over the course of one year.
No sanction of the finance ministry was taken to divert defence funds to a religious activity, the scientist alleged.
EDITOR: Yes, we’ve posted this news report in our HUMOUR section. Where else could we put it?
[Courtesy: The New Indian Express. Edited for sikhchic.com]
November 27, 2014
Conversation about this article
1: Shiv Sainik (Gurgaon, India), November 27, 2014, 12:00 PM.
A holy bullock got killed. India's Defence atones(?) for the loss by building a rath. How's that going to help anybody? Maybe the gods will intervene and help us with defending our country? From whom? From what? Methinks we're getting deep into the territory of the Cuckoo's Nest, if you get my drift.
2: Sunny Grewal (Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada), November 27, 2014, 1:32 PM.
Sure ... in ancient India they used their hi-tech to build flying machines. In modern India they built on that knowledge, as we can all see. Somewhere in between, they forgot how to build toilets.
3: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), November 27, 2014, 6:41 PM.
While the bull transported the research chariot to the launching pad, it was noticed the mother cow demurely followed seven steps behind looking at her feet.
4: H. Kaur (Canada), November 28, 2014, 2:32 AM.
A million dollars almost paid due to a dead bull. Under the pretext of Defence spending!~That means in India the government should easily afford a lot more in compensation for each Sikh killed in 1984. Oh, but I forget, human life doesn't matter there.
5: Kaala Singh (Punjab), November 28, 2014, 10:53 PM.
Wow, this chariot can now be used in the wars instead of tanks and many countries will want to buy these hi-tech WMDs. Truly a ground-breaking invention, which will also help increase of production of cows and bulls -- surely a Hindutva speciality. The next version of this chariot will have the capability of flying and will invariably replace the fighter jets in the Indian air force! Kudos to Indian research and scientific progress!
6: Rich (Phoenix, Arizona, USA), November 29, 2014, 1:07 AM.
Typical idiocy in Hindustan. Next research project will be advanced 'solar projection', where staring at the sun, while performing special rituals, will give you superpowers! Or make you blind - like the current leaders.