Dr Ajay Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and IT has been elevated to Secretary, Ministry of Defence. Earlier this week, the industry veteran has got the promotion and now he is leading the officers in the ministry of Defence.
Dr Kumar has resumed his new ministry recently. Talking exclusively to Electronics Bazaar, Ajay Kumar said that his stint with MeitY was excellent. “It was a very satisfying time when both the digital India and Make in India has tremendous opportunity to contribute. I was fortunate to be a part of both the program, Digital India and Make in India.”
When asked, if this move will impact the industry as the new electronics policy is in under process he replied there are lots of people in the ministry and they will do it well.
There is no doubt the work for new electronic policy 2.0 is under the draft process and he was leading this policy from the front. Industry leaders were in regular touch with him for this policy. Now after his exit, it can be a setback for the industry.
We spoke to some of the industry leaders asking if it would have any negative impact.
ELCINA president, Pankaj Gulati is still thinking positive and believes there will be no delay in any upcoming project.
He said, “There are other people in the ministry who will take care of this and definitely the joint secretary and secretary are doing a good job. We keep meeting with them and even there is a meeting scheduled next week. Dr Kumar has done a lot for the industry in his tenure. Any which way his promotion was due and I wish him all the best. These policies are driven by a team and not by any individual, his support was outstanding and we believe there will be no obstacles in any upcoming work.”
While there is always two sides of the coin and Amrit Manwani, Chairman of Sahsra Group of Companies is the one who is seeing the other side. He mentioned, with Dr Kumar being an engineer will boost the electronics category in the defence sector.
He said, There is no setback in his exit, rather it could be positive in the. I believe, Dr Kumar will push electronics in the defence segment as electronics is close to his heart.”
The industry has a positive thought about his move and they are seeing it for the good. IESA Chairman, Ashwini Aggarwal said, “I think he has already set a momentum and the leadership will take up from where he has passed the baton. We will move on and I don’t think his legacy will die just like that.”
This move from the government came all of a sudden and the some of the industry leaders weren’t aware of his move. In the coming time, it will be interesting to see how the industry leaders will carry the momentum.
-By Abid Hasan
