Talent crunch hits India's premier aerospace lab

Bangalore: Opening up of the Indian economy and globalisation are taking a heavy toll on the state-run research and development (R&D) institutions, with scientists and engineers, across the board, quitting in droves for greener pastures, a top aerospace official said here late on Wednesday.
"We are hit hard by talent crunch. Many of our well-trained scientists and technologists are either resigning or taking voluntary retirement in droves to join the private sector or multi-nationals in pursuit of professional advancement with hefty pay packets," National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) director A.R. Upadhya told IANS here.
As India's only civilian aerospace lab, the Bangalore-based NAL is a constituent of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) under the ministry of Science & Technology, with state-of-the-art facilities for designing and developing aerospace technologies. It has an annual grant of Rs.1.2 billion from the funds allocated to the CSIR by the central government.
"Not long ago, NAL was the preferred choice of science and engineering graduates. Today, it is no longer the case, with majority of graduates opting for lucrative career in IT (information technology) or BT (biotechnology)," Upadhya said.
Upadhya said during the last two years, despite best efforts, about 30 percent of posts remained vacant for want of better talent for hiring.
26/06/08 IANS/IndiaEduNews.net

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jun 2008