The Recruitment and Assessment Centre (RAC) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has re-advertised the post of its Chairperson, after an earlier recruitment exercise launched in 2025 failed to result in the appointment of a regular incumbent. RAC has issued Advertisement No. 158 for appointment of its Chairperson, with 7 September 2026 set as the last date for applications. The fresh advertisement comes after the Centre invited applications for the same post through Advertisement No. 157 in March 2025. The deadline for that recruitment exercise was subsequently extended from 24 March to 4 April 2025. The latest recruitment exercise is the third attempt in recent years to fill the position. RAC had earlier issued Advertisement No. 150 for appointment of a Chairperson in 2024. That advertisement was subsequently cancelled for administrative reasons on 2 July 2024.
The March 2025 recruitment exercise was launched after that cancellation, but did not result in the appointment of a regular Chairperson. The official RAC record shows that Dr Samir V. Kamat, then Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development and Chairman, DRDO, was entrusted with the additional charge of Chairman RAC with effect from 13 June 2025. Kamat is no longer heading DRDO. The DRDO’s current official website identifies Rajesh Kumar Singh as Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO. The RAC’s record, however, continues to reflect the additional-charge arrangement for the Chairperson’s post. The re-advertisement therefore comes after the position has remained without a regular incumbent following the end of Bhanu Pratap Sharma’s tenure on 12 June 2025.
The Chairperson RAC is a senior position in the defence research establishment. Under Advertisement No. 157 issued in 2025, the post was placed at Pay Level 17 and was open to eminent serving or retired scientists, technologists, civil servants and academicians at the level of Secretary to the Government of India. The 2025 advertisement provided for a three-year contractual appointment or tenure until the incumbent attained 65 years of age, whichever was earlier. It also provided for selection through a high-level Searchcum-Selection Committee appointed by the government, with the approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. The committee was empowered to consider candidates other than those who had applied through the advertisement. The Chairperson RAC is responsible for formulating policies relating to the recruitment and assessment of DRDO scientists and for providing guidance to ensure objectivity and confidentiality in the selection process. RAC was set up on 23 July 1985 after DRDO was granted exemption from the purview of the Union Public Service Commission.
Till 1985, recruitment and promotions to all Group A and Group B posts were made on the recommendations of the UPSC. The centre was established as an agency for recruitment and promotion for posts covered under the Defence Research and Development Services. It is responsible for making scientific manpower available to DRDO laboratories and also draws on experts from academic institutions, scientific organisations and industry for the assessment of scientists. RAC has traditionally been headed by senior scientists, technologists and administrators. Its official record shows that Prof S. Sampath was its first Chairperson, serving from 10 September 1986 to 15 July 1990.
He was followed by R.K. Garg, Dr C.S. Jha, Dr S.K. Joshi, Dr V.K. Aatre, Dr P. Rodriguez, Dr K.V. Raghavan, M. Natarajan, Dr Prem Shanker Goel, Dr V.K. Saraswat, Prof Dr D.N. Reddy, Dr S. Christopher and Bhanu Pratap Sharma. Dr S.K. Joshi, who served as Director General of CSIR and Director of the National Physical Laboratory, was a Padma Bhushan recipient. Dr C.S. Jha, an alumnus of Patna Science College, served as Director of IIT Kharagpur and Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, besides previously serving as Chairperson of RAC. Dr Prem Shanker Goel, another former Chairperson, served as Secretary of the Department of Ocean Development, which subsequently became the Ministry of Earth Sciences, and was a former Director of the Indian Space Research Organisation. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2001 for Science and Engineering. Bhanu Pratap Sharma, who served as Chairperson from 15 December 2017 to 12 June 2025, was a retired IAS officer and former Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training. Advertisement No. 158 now provides the government with another opportunity to appoint a regular Chairperson to the organisation responsible for the recruitment and assessment of scientists for DRDO.
