R Chidambaram demits office at 81, K VijayaRaghavan to succeed him as scientific adviser to govt

‘The Smiling Buddha’, the code for Pokhran 1’s success in 1974, and ‘Operation Shakthi’, the mission that catapulted India into nuclear power through Pokhran 2 in 1998, had one ‘bright spark’ in common — Rajagopala Chidambaram, a well-known nuclear physicist. For his enormous contributions, Chidambaram was made the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Centre in November 2001, succeeding APJ Abdul Kalam, the late missile scientist and President of India. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan as well.

His long and distinguished career of 56 years to Indian Science, especially nuclear, came to an end when the Government appointed K Vijayaraghavan, former Secretary, Dept of Biotechnology, to succeed him a few days ago. He is 81 now and actively promoting nuclear energy and popularising science through lectures.

Chidambaram made seminal contributions in crystallography and in making India a nuclear weapons state. In the May 1998 Pokhran blasts, he and Kalam led ‘Operation Shakthi’, which foxed the Americans and earned their wrath. It led to sanctions, mostly technology, and a torrent of questions on whether the blast really measured up to India’s claims.

Chidambaram, Kalam and Anil Kakodkar, who was Director, BARC, deftly handled global criticism and firmly put the country on the road to becoming a nuclear power. Not only is Chidambaram a top-class scientist but also a diplomat to the core. His responses are measured and well thought out.

He had a knack for warding off ‘difficult or political questions’. Many times at press conferences or when reporters tried to buttonhole him at conferences on nuclear energy, he would take the question but politely avoid them by deflecting them to the organisers or others.

The young Chidambaram, hailing from Tamil Nadu, joined BARC in 1962 during the time of Homi Bhabha. He steadily rose to be part of the critical team that made the nuclear bomb and conducted the 1974 Pokhran tests in the Rajasthan deserts. He rose to head BARC in the late 1980s and became the Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission consequently.

The articulate scientist had to wade through a lot of controversy and criticism over the handling and performance of the Department of Atomic Energy as well. His running feud with the Atomic Energy regulator, A A Gopalakrishnan, who raised over a 100 issues, several on safety and security of the country’s programme, are well-known.

He saw through a ‘cut and rise’ in funding to the nuclear programme during the 1990s. In the rise phase under AB Vajpayee’s NDA government, the rapid expansion and possible participation of the private sector, including global players, in nuclear power generation cropped up. This led to opposition and protests from environmental and civil rights groups opposing nuclear power on grounds of safety and economy. Chidambaram had to draw his best skills and talents from within the DAE establishment to face the challenges.

While the nuclear weapon’s programme moved fast and collaboration with DRDO, then under Kalam, smoothened to achieve quick goals, civilian nuclear power generation fell far behind targets. Against the aim of achieving 20,000 MW by 2000, Nuclear Power Corporation ended up at 4,170 MW, that too after a creditable performance under the leadership of YSR Prasad, the CMD of the Corporation.

Chidambaram was a strong proponent of India’s role as a peaceful user of nuclear power and possessing nuclear deterrence. He voiced this stand ‘loud and clear’ in international fora. Among these he led a couple of groups of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna. One of the was the elders group that looked at the potential of nuclear power in the long-term future.

His keen interest in research also gave a push to India’s participation in several international projects, including the European particle physics-led CERN, and the international thermo nuclear fission project (ITER), which aims to harness fusion (presently fission reactions produce nuclear energy which is finite) in the future, which is limitless.

Term at PSA

As the PSA since November 2001, he was instrumental in several initiatives. Among them was technology support to the automotive sector under CAR-Core Advisory Group for R&D in the automotive sector, developing indigenous technology strengths in semiconductors, electronics, sensors and other areas. Creation of RuTAGs (Rural Technology Action Groups), SETS (Society For Electronic Transactions and Security) are making an impact.

The high-speed National Knowledge Network developed with the National Informatics Centre that connected over 1,500 higher education institutes, was another important contribution of the PSA office. He is credited with coining the phrase ‘Coherent Synergy’ to ensure sustained and fast growth of India’s S&T by harnessing strengths in various departments.

Chidambaram played a key role in the turnaround of the public sector ECIL, Hyderabad, which was on the verge of being referred to BIFR towards the end of the century. He pushed through Rs 100-crore support and provided challenging indigenisation projects from the strategic departments.

However, his tenure, which was marked by Big Bang projects and strides in technological capabilities at the DAE and PSA in the initial phase, seemed to have tapered off into a whimper. The last few years, in fact, the impact of the PSA has faded. The Narendra Modi-led NDA government has also disbanded another high profile SAC-PM (Scientific Advisory Committee), chaired by Bharat Ratna CNR Rao and more than a dozen distinguished scientists.

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