Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary, Department of Defence Production
Addressing a seminar in Pune on ‘Military Explosives & Propellants — Safety and Compliance and Quality Assurance, Defence Production’, Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary, Department of Defence Production, said the Ministry of Defence decided to hold this event after a series of accidents at defence public sector undertakings and private industries in recent years.
Pune:Safety lapses in India’s explosives and ammunition manufacturing sector stem more from inadequate enforcement of existing standards than from the absence of rules and accidents must be “eliminated” rather than merely reduced, a top government official said on Friday.
Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary, Department of Defence Production under Ministry of Defence, advocated greater use of technology to improve compliance with safety protocols and minimise dependence on manual supervision at explosives and ammunition making units.
Addressing a seminar in Pune on ‘Military Explosives & Propellants — Safety and Compliance and Quality Assurance, Defence Production’, he said the Ministry of Defence decided to hold this event after a series of accidents at defence public sector undertakings and private industries in recent years.
“We came to the conclusion (after these accidents) that probably it is not the lack of adequate standards, but the lack of conscious and sincere implementation of those standards. When people work for many years, they tend to become complacent and start taking processes casually,” he noted.
The IAS officer said a committee constituted to examine such tragedies found that safety standards and safeguards were already in place, but their implementation required greater vigilance.
He emphasised that accidents involving explosives and propellants have devastating human consequences and therefore must be prevented at any cost.
“I am using the word ‘eliminated’ very consciously. Reducing or mitigating will not work because the damage to human lives is irreparable,” the senior bureaucrat stressed.
The Defence Production Secretary suggested greater use of technology, including sensors, CCTV cameras, automated monitoring systems and data analytics, to improve compliance with safety protocols and minimise dependence on manual supervision at explosives and ammunition units.
“Can we start thinking of automating these processes so that things get continuously supervised, controlled and corrected without significant human interference?” he asked.
Highlighting the growing global demand for explosives and propellants amid ongoing conflicts worldwide, Kumar said India has a rare opportunity to expand its manufacturing capacity and emerge as a major supplier.