New Delhi: The government has appointed Odia physicist and director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Dr Ajit Kumar Mohanty, as the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy.
According to the government order issued Saturday, Kumar will hold the post till the age of 66, or till 10 October 2025. The decision was taken by the Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet.
The Department of Atomic Energy comes directly under the Prime Minister’s Office, and since its inception in 1954, “has been engaged in the development of nuclear power technology, applications of radiation technologies in the fields of agriculture, medicine, industry and basic research,” according to its website.
The Atomic Energy Commission is a decision making body that has “full executive and financial powers, modelled, more or less, on the lines of the Railway Board,” its resolution states.
Mohanty will replace outgoing secretary and chairman Dr Kamlesh Nilkanth Vyas, who has reached the age of retirement.
Mohanty’s appointment has been met with widespread praise, including from Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who tweeted, “Congratulate noted Odia scientist Dr. Ajit Kumar Mohanty on being appointed as the Secretary of @DAEIndia and Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission. Wish him a successful tenure ahead.”
Union Minister for Education, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan also congratulated Mohanty on his appointment. Taking to Twitter, Pradhan said, “May he strengthen our indigenous capabilities and lead India to self-sufficiency in nuclear energy and technologies.”
Mohanty was appointed the BARC chairman on 12 March 2019, prior to which he was the Director of BARC’s Physics Group and Director, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics in Kolkata.
He was born in Odisha in 1959. He did his bachelor’s degree from MPC College in Baripada in 1979 and Master’s degree in Physics in 1981 from Ravenshaw College, Cuttack. In 1983, he joined BARC’s Nuclear Physics Division, after graduating from the organisation’s training School.
Mohanty is also the recipient of several awards, having been given the Young Physicist Award from the Indian Physical Society in 1988. He was also awarded the Young Scientist Award by the Indian National Science Academy in 1991 and the Homi Bhabha Science and Technology Award by the Department of Atomic Energy in 2001.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)