Selection of CDFD director halted

The selection criteria were also scaled down by the CDFD which consequently also allowed lower qualified candidates to apply for the post. However, sources said that the NDA government has put the process on hold.

CDFD has been without a permanent director for some time now. The prestigious institution has also faced charges of plagiarism in the past when a Japanese scientist complained that a CDFD scientist Sunil Kumar Manna had used data belonging to the Japanese scientist. Apart from this, the selection process for the post of director also became controversial. After initially calling for applications for the post of director, satisfying certain conditions, the same conditions were a few months later scaled down.

The Forum against Corruption in Science head and former chief scientist of CDFD, Dr G.V. Rao, had written to the Prime Minister’s Office complaining against the “biased selection and interview process.”

In his complaint, Dr Rao said candidates were interviewed twice which is itself not in the spirit of existing rules. The name of a scientist was also said to have been finalised. Now the Union government has put the selection process on hold. The selection process is likely to be taken up afresh as the current file has been closed.