Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar takes charge as the new DST secretary

New Delhi: The Department of Science and Technology in the Union of Ministry of Science and Technology has got a new head.

Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar has taken over the charge of Secretary of the Department from Dr. M Ravichandran, secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, who had the additional charge of the DST. Dr. Shekhar Mande, Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dr. Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, and other senior officials of the Ministry were present on the occasion.

Dr. Chandrashekhar was until recently Director of CSIR’s Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) at Hyderabad. He was associated with the IICT since his doctoral studies in the late 1980s. He joined the institute in 1994 and since then has served in varying scientific positions till he took charge as the institute’s director in 2015. For a brief period between November 2020 and March 2021, he held the additional charge as Director, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune.

Dr. Chandrashekhar is a fellow of all the three science academies in the country — the Indian National Science Academy, the National Academy of Sciences, India, and the Indian Academy of Sciences. He has to his credit several distinguished national and international awards including Infosys Prize 2014 and fellowships of leading science academies.

A renowned synthetic organic chemist, he has made significant contributions in diverse areas of organic chemistry with a special commitment to the development of better and affordable access to important drugs, especially for tropical health-related problems. He has developed technologies for the synthesis of bedaquiline, a key component used in the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. He is also credited with the development of technologies for synthesizing anti-tumour and abortive drug called misoprostol, among others. He played a key role in introducing polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a novel and environmentally benign solvent medium. He has over 280 publications and 19 patents to his credit.

While taking over charge, Dr Chandrashekhar expressed his commitment to work closely with all scientific departments aligned with the vision of the Government.